The Crimson Wolf
by intelligenceisstupid
Summary: When Daisuke is sent out to embrace his werewolf as custom dictates, something goes horribly wrong. But when a wolf from the Hikari clan saves him, how will the Niwa/Hikari packs react to their unsteady friendship?
1. Chapter 1

Daisuke Niwa looked out of the wrought iron window of the Niwa Estate and swallowed thickly, trying to ignore that ticklish stirring in the back of his mind.

He still wasn't used to this flatness; the tundra that was the country of Russia. Even though the clan had moved here five years ago after an agreement that Japan was simply too crowded, filled with too much temptation, he'd never gotten used to how…lonely the landscape seemed.

No trees, barely any shrubs, just miles of half-dead grasses and patches of snow and marsh. It was a little better in the summers but… His wolf stirred again. Heat spread to his limbs, and then receded, leaving the redhead a little shaken. Tonight was his wolf's night,his first transformation into one or their kind.

It was his fourteenth birthday to be exact, and although his whole family had thrown a party for him that morning and even invited some friends over from school, he didn't feel particularly happy. He knew he should be – it meant he'd finally be able to run side by side with his older brother Dark, and their adopted sister Riku, but…

He drew the curtains and sat back down on his bed, picking up the gift his brother had given him. Dark had been born on a night with no moon, just like the male heir of the Hikari clan, Krad.

There was an old story that werewolf cubs born on the new moon would '_leave_ _their paw prints on both land and sky_' but nobody had known what to expect until Dark came out of Emiko with a pair of tiny, delicate black wings folded against his back. They were uselessly small for most of his life, so he had kept them folded in two grooves between his shoulder blades, making them virtually undetectable under a shirt. But when he hit puberty they began to grow rapidly, and after fifteen were large enough to lift him into the air. The only drawback was they simply disappeared when he was in wolf form. Daisuke picked up the necklace – a simple chain of Dark's entwined purplish-black feathers – and smiled despite himself. At least he had tried this year. He slipped it over his head, enjoying the silky feel of them, and looked around his room; same red comforter, dresser weighed down with school books and knickknacks…And of course, an assortment of exotic herbs stolen from the Hikaris.

They had been trying for as long as anyone in the clan could remember to cure the werewolf 'disease', and the Niwas had been trying equally hard to keep them from creating one. They considered themselves the last bond that humans – odd creatures that they were – had to the natural world. He checked his watch.

Nine-thirty. Two and a half hours until he would walk alone into the tundra and embrace his wolf, as was custom. ~At least I wasn't born at six in the morning.~ Scratching his arms, he closed the door to his bedroom and went down the hall to their office, knocking softly on the knotted oak. Even wearing two pairs of socks his feet still ached from the cold stone floors.

"Yello?" The purple-haired alpha answered, and Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief before going in. Dark was sitting where their father Kosuke usually sat, flanked by piles of papers and a mountain of books. Kosuke was sitting by the fire, holding a worn leather-bound book while stretching his feet towards the flames. Daisuke's increasingly sensitive nose caught onto his brother's scent – the scent of his wolf, that is, an alpha being the most dominant of all wolf ranks, and he automatically bent into a half-bow. "Uh…"

He stood frozen until Dark came up and rubbed the side of his face across Daisuke's to reassure his inner wolf, ~You're okay. You're a part of my pack.~ The redhead relaxed. Jokingly Dark leaned down and sniffed at his fiery hair. "Nope, definitely not an alpha."

Daisuke colored before glancing at the stack of papers his brother had been sifting through. "Could I talk to you for a moment, or are you busy?"

Dark leaned back to address their father. "Kosuke, could you take over for a minute? Technically you're still C-Alpha here."

Their father snorted, sighed and ran a hand through his thick black hair. "Alright, but hurry up. You have more... direct boundary authority than I."

Kosuke Niwa was referring to the fact that he was almost past transformation age – it became difficult for people over forty to transform, as it was too much strain on their bodies. Daisuke was pretty sure he would make Dark the Clan Alpha very soon. Dark nodded in return, then stood to lead Daisuke back to his room.

"Something with the Hikari clan?" Daisuke asked, while looking up at his taller sibling as they walked.

Dark ran a hand through his purple locks. "Yeah, territory dispute over the river, and about the caribou. It's all a thinly veiled excuse to start attacking our patrols again, no doubt." He waved his hand in an angry gesture as he sat down on Daisuke's bed. "The way things are going I might have to settle this with that alpha heir-"

"Krad?" Daisuke interrupted to ask. Dark nodded before continuing, "Which actually suits me just fine." His voice ended with a muted growl. Daisuke moved to sit down next to him.

"I...actually wanted to talk about tonight." Fingering his new necklace he began, "Um, I heard that the Hikari alpha's little brother is transforming tonight too… I think his name is Satoshi?"

Dark raised one thick eyebrow. "Oh? Did Towa tell you?" He shook his head. "Yeah, it's true," he confirmed. "But he's tamer than his older brother, so you should be fine. He'll probably be a beta like you, or even an omega."

Daisuke sighed, and his brother put an arm around his shoulders. "Oh, good. And, um, I know…" Daisuke paused, looking down in shame, "I should be excited about tonight, and I am! It's just- ...Mostly, I'm just scared." He gazed up into large amethyst eyes hopefully and asked, "I mean, how did you…?"

Dark resisted his wolf's urge to simply wrap himself around his younger sibling, and instead got up to pull the curtains open. Daisuke flinched, but it was cloudy. The moon was hidden for now.

"What can I say, Dai? I knew my wolf was gonna be an alpha. My personality is so strong," his brother admitted quietly as his breath fogged the window's glass. "They're the hardest to control. …By the time the day came, I was so scared that I had puked up everything I ate for two days."

Daisuke remembered then that he'd asked him why he had looked so pale, but at the time Dark had brushed off all his questions. He heard the older Niwa give a little snort.

"When I finally walked out there – there is nowhere to hide from the moonlight here, and the actual transformation… I'm not gonna lie, it scares you; feeling everything pop and twist and realign. After that though..." He grinned widely, turning to face Daisuke, leaving a large hand print on the window. "When you're running faster than you've ever run on human legs, barely even leaving prints on the ground...it's a lot like flying." Seemingly invigorated by just talking about it, he went back to Daisuke and put a hand on his thin shoulders. "You won't _want_ to come back to your human form when the night is over." It sounded ludicrous, but Dark had never lied to him before (about important things) and besides that, he could hear personal experience within Dark's words.

"Okay." Daisuke felt a bit better. Dark could obviously tell he was still nervous because he whispered, "How about this…I'll sneak out around dawn and meet you near the marshes, okay?"

The boy's face lit up. "Yeah? Okay! Oh, and one more thing… Why hasn't Riku come out of her room?" Dark laughed as he opened the door.

"You didn't know? She went into heat about four days ago. She should be fine in about a month."

"Oh…" Daisuke said in surprise, having then remembered that when he passed by her door, he had noticed an odd smell. He waved goodbye to Dark, then settled down in his bed with all his clothes still on and attempted to go to sleep. He thought a little about his sister – Emiko had wanted to adopt because she needed a little female companionship, but as the year went by it was obvious that there was another reason.

Werewolf cubs were a little different from humans in that after they stop nursing they have an all-meat diet until they're nearly two years old. When she went to adopt, Riku had been sickly and no one could figure out what was wrong with her, until Emiko had slipped her a bit of ham. Riku quickly recovered, and Emiko realized she had a little female werewolf on her hands. In the present day, nothing would make her happier than if Riku fell in love and married Dark. Of course there was just one problem with this. She. _Loathed_. Him. Daisuke had to admit Dark had brought it on himself.

His personality was a big impediment in general, but he also had a tendency to walk through the halls butt-naked on the nights of the full moon. ~It's not our fault we can't cart around clothing in wolf form but…~ He managed to catch a few hours of sleep before he woke up, writhing and sweating. It was a lot worse now, like little bugs were crawling under his skin, and the heat! He untangled himself immediately from the sheets and opened his window, gasping in cold air. "…_haaahh_…ugh."

His body felt like it was burning; especially his hands and face, every joint weirdly loose and aching. A small knock alerted him to someone outside, and before they even spoke he could smell wolf. His own shuddered excitedly. "Daisuke?"

"Yeah, Dark?" his voice rasped, sounding completely foreign to his own ears.

"C'mon, we gotta get you ready. It's almost time."

Daisuke straightened from his window, and his legs cracked, disgustingly loud. "Eh?" He rubbed his knees and ankles, but they seemed fine, just…tingly. His clock said 11:35. His heart jumped in his chest. It was so late…

He began walking down the hallway with Dark, noticing that even though he tried to stay level with him, he kept dropping back just behind him. As he walked passed Riku's door, he was assaulted with a scent – something strong and feminine, but not at all unpleasant. He took a step towards her door without thinking, and Dark caught him by the shoulder, saying firmly, "I wouldn't. She's liable to bite your head off just for going in."

Daisuke immediately fell back into step behind him as Dark added, "After she's finished with you, that is." He blushed severely.

Finally they came into the living room where the whole family was waiting; his mom and dad, grandpa, Towa, and Dark… Everyone except Riku. But before he could react to that, Emiko grabbed him up and squeezed him. "Oh, Daisuke, you look so grown up and resolved! Doesn't he, Papa?" His grandpa nodded solemnly and Dark slipped in, "If by 'resolved' you mean 'scared shitless'…then yeah."

Emiko smacked him on the shoulder. "Ouch! Well it's true!" he chimed up before she herded Daisuke into the bathroom, handing him a pair of black shorts with an elastic waistband. "They're the easiest to kick off once your legs start bending," she explained. He held them close to his chest, not wanting to think about that at all.

"Wait…this is it? No socks or shoes?" he asked incredulously. She laughed and flicked her hair.

"Whoever heard of a werewolf wearing shoes, Daisuke? Now hurry up, I have to go check on Riku- ...Oh, and I'll take these." She slipped the feather necklace from over his head and took off his watch, and then walked out, shutting the door behind her. As he changed clothes he thought, ~But…how am I supposed to walk barefoot through the snow? What if I get hypothermia?~ Once he finished he stood and examined himself in the mirror. He usually was pretty scrawny, but as today had come closer he noticed he'd bulked up, arms and chest becoming a little thicker, and shoulders a little wider. He wasn't at all comparable to Dark, but for him, he looked pretty, well…

He blinked as he noticed his eyes. They weren't red anymore, but instead had taken on the grayish-blue color of a juvenile werewolf. "Weird…" He opened the door. "Okay, um…" he managed to say before getting whisked away by his family to the back door and outside. It was absolutely freezing. His whole body immediately broke out in goose bumps. Dead grass stuck to his once-warm feet, coating them in dew. His mother hugged him again.

"Alright, Daisuke, we'll all be inside if you need us, okay dear?" She then pointed to a barely-there trail between the grass. "You just keep on this path, okay? And don't cross the river."

The rest of his family promptly said their goodbyes and went back into the feeble warmth of the doorway as he took a few tentative steps down the path. He turned around, and tried to say bravely, "B-bye." Dark gave him a subtle nod and he remembered his brother's promise as he turned back around. "Bye, Daisuke."

They shut the door, and he was left alone. His feet were absolutely screaming at him to stop, but he kept walking, trying not to notice how absolutely pitch-black it was. And so…quiet, except for the wind. He forced himself to stagger on, flinching every time his foot landed in a chunk of snow, and wondered if he was simply going to curl up into a ball and die out here. Maybe his parents were wrong and he wasn't one of them after all – it had happened before. Once with Emiko. After a few minutes of this brooding, however, his feet didn't hurt quite so bad and he wasn't really very cold at all anymore.

In fact, he was kinda…sweaty. He looked down at his hands – which looked gray in this light – in utter disbelief. It was probably negative five degrees Celsius outside, but he could feel little rivulets of hot sweat running down his back and belly. ~This is just…~

As he tuned in to himself further, he realized what he thought was shivering was in fact a kind of excited, happy trembling. He tensed up his muscles, but it didn't help – in fact it made it worse, because his wolf reared up in his consciousness and wriggled, sending flames down through to his toes, eager to be set free.

All of a sudden the swimming darkness seemed to brighten a bit, and he was able to make out a good area around him. Up ahead where the path forked to the left were patches of snow and chunks of frozen grass. Daisuke thought feverishly ~I-I don't want this! I don't want to be _this_! I just want to go home and curl up in bed and pretend that this was all a dream-~

The ground around him brightened as if lit by a huge spotlight, and he could see for miles, every bit as clear as daylight… He felt he needed to look up, his body was begging him, and yet he stared at the ground with determination as he felt that familiar gray light wash over him. ~ I won't look; I won't…~ But finally, his head lifted against his will and the clouds cleared to reveal the moon.

It was so beautiful, so round and bright. As he stared, his body stopped sweating, and for a moment he was stuck in between two desires. His form was still human, but…~_You won't _want _to return to your human form when the night is over_.~…

Deep in his soul, he realized with a kind of peacefulness that suddenly, he had changed his mind – he didn't want to be human anymore. It was too much work, with too many conflicting thoughts. There wasn't enough simple enjoyment of being a living creature roaming on the earth.

~ I just…I want to be _free_.~

* * *

Alrighty I need some support for this please!Otherwise I might discontinue this story.


	2. Chapter 2

With a loud crack his legs gave out and abruptly he was on all fours. "Ah!" He barely caught himself as the transformation gripped him.

It tore at is ligaments, and washed over his skin. He felt a thick layer of fur follow it, thoroughly blocking out the cold. His elbows slid up to his ribcage, he felt his spine lengthen over his shorts and drop down behind his legs. ~My tail…~ He kicked off his shorts feebly with backward-bent knees and dropped onto the ground, curling all his appendages underneath his body and letting out a scream. As he did his nose and mouth jutted out smoothly. His lips became black and loose. His nose also darkened, and his teeth spaced out and sharpened. Body and ribcage crunched together and down as if the hands of God had crushed him on both sides. He gritted his new mouth together, whimpering.

The fire began to die down as he felt the more minute details changing – the position and shape of his ears, the texture and color of his nails, the thickening of pads on his hands and feet… And as suddenly as it came, it was over. He laid there, curled in a ball against the cool ground, his snout underneath his thick tail.

Daisuke laid there for a few moments, persuading his wolf not to move as he gently tested out this new body. He twitched his rounded ears and swiveled them.

Maybe ten yards away he could hear the frantic thumping of a rabbit's heart in its burrow. Lifting his sleek head, he licked his lips and felt his tongue touch his nose.

It then hung languidly out of the front of his mouth like a steak. ~Rabbit.~ His wolf reminded him incessantly. ~Hungry. We go, we eat.~ Daisuke stood up shakily.

His belly was still full from the human dinner he'd eaten nearly five hours ago. ~I'm not hungry. Let's go back to the-~ He looked down and circled around.

~Where is…~ his wolf muttered, ~Left path while ago. Not where rabbit is.~ Daisuke prodded, ~C'mon, where is it?~ He then saw something in a withered tree within the distance. He pricked up his ears and sniffed, but from his position it only looked like a weird growth on the faraway branches and he couldn't tell what it was, though the wind was blowing to them and his wolf caught its scent. His ears slicked back, and his tail curled underneath his belly. ~No go see. Bad. Scratch, bite. We go on path instead.~

His wolf turned, but Daisuke took over and shoved his wolf to the back of his mind. ~Oh come on. Let's go see.~ As they made their way across the land, Daisuke's paws slipped suddenly and he had to splay his legs to keep standing. ~Ice?~ He stared down at the white-blue sheet beneath him, seeing his wolf for the first time.

It was as big as a mastiff, with a standard gray base, but a bright red patch ran along his spine up to his head and ears, like the saddle of a German Sheppard.

But his eyes were still that same gray-blue color that he was almost used to. ~Is this the river?~ He looked left and right, scenting the wind. It didn't seem like anyone was there.

He began to cross and was surprised as his wolf snapped, ~Mother say not to! We go back!~ but he brushed him off. ~We'll only be a minute, we're almost there.~

But as they finally approached the dead tree, his wolf instincts made his tail and hackles raise, as well as his ears flatten. It became clear in the moonlight why; a big cat sat up in the tree. It resembled a shimmering black liquid. It flowed smoothly into a long, lean tail, which held a slight, lazy curl at its end. The sleek limb twitched, along with the beast's long, fine whiskers. Piercing orange slits with black stared at him like heated glass, and suddenly his wolf turned and ran. ~We go NOW!~

The jaguar, or cougar, abruptly disappeared. ~Wait, where-?~

As his wolf sprinted away, they were caught by surprise as something landed on top of them both, making them roll in the snow. Searing pain unexpectedly tore through him as the thing dug claws into his underbelly. He instinctively snapped, connecting teeth with the thing's shoulder.

It hissed like a kettle, and he saw orange orbs clearly – though they were more of a rotted pumpkin color – then they disappeared as it buried its fangs into the ruff of his neck. He yelped, but didn't let up on his biting. Daisuke didn't know what more he could do; he was completely inexperienced in these sorts of things, and besides that, if he moved any more this cat would probably rake its claws in deeper.

He gritted harder at the shoulder in his mouth, ~S-someone help…~ Hot blood ran down into his eyes, blinding him. He blinked it away as best he could. Daisuke wondered as he felt the cat's fangs reach deep into flesh, whether this would be the last thing he would see; these blurry milky-white stars and the deep blue of the fading night.

The animal's weight was suddenly torn off of him. As he laid there unable to move he heard a horrid mixture of sound, like that of gargling blood along with a strangely human screech from the cat. They were on his left now. He turned his head, and saw a wolf, so blindingly white that the snow turned gray around it, pinning the writhing jaguar down. His jaws were tainted pink, and his eyes bore a hard gray-yellow. The thing screamed that eerie human scream again. The white wolf released it, his back facing Daisuke, snarling, "GRAAAAHHHH!" His snout heavily wrinkled up to his eyes.

The jaguar hissed before taking off to the west. After a few seconds he couldn't see it anymore and Daisuke relaxed, panting harshly. As the bone-white creature approached, he rolled to one side painfully but heard a calm, yet cold voice in his mind bark, ~_Don't. You're severely injured, Niwa. You should never have crossed the border_.~ His inner wolf growled in agreement, and he felt the other wolf's breath near his injured belly. ~W-what was that thing…?~ he asked, dazed. The other omega stepped back, seeming to make a decision.

~_Stay here, and thank whatever gods you believe in that it was me you encountered, and not my brother,~ _he ordered simply, turning and running back to the Hikari Mansion as fast as his lupine legs could carry him. Whoever this idiotic Niwa pup was, he required antiseptic, antibacterial liquids and stitches immediately.

A were-jaguar's claws were notoriously filthy, so the chance of infection with those kinds of wounds was very high. Satoshi Hikari cursed in his mind and pushed his new body faster until he was nearly out of breath, wondering why he was even doing this. Ever since the group of jaguars had moved up from Mexico they had been nothing but trouble, but Krad had seen them as a potential 'distraction' for the Niwas, so he tolerated their presence around the borders.

_~No doubt what he would do in this situation,_~ he thought grimly. Krad would leave the helpless Niwa to die. The redhead was exceptionally lucky Krad had a police engagement near the other end of the country, involving a bunch of sheep killings that had telltale werewolf signs, and had chosen to stay in an isolated hotel reassuringly close to the tundra. As the Hikari pawed the door open and shot inside, he grabbed their extensive first aid kit from the table by the door, and then pulled the front door closed with his mouth before taking off again. He'd been a little disappointed that Krad had left, but at least he'd stayed with him up until the actual transformation. Since their mother had died bringing Satoshi into the world they had become…

...almost close. They were the kind of people that never asked for, but desperately needed, physical contact. In fact this morning around six, as the fire had consumed his body, Krad had come in without a word, shut the door, and held his head against his wide chest until the shaking had stopped, his long ivory fingers stroking cobalt hair. Still… Satoshi was afraid of him. The reason why Krad's eyes held that golden shade at all times was because his wolf was always present in his mind, and occasionally completely took over. He had just a touch of what people of their kind called a 'mindless' wolf – where his wolf would suddenly take over for as few as a couple seconds or as long as a few days. His thoughts cut off as he neared the Niwa again, and he morphed into his half-wolf form, feeling slightly self-conscious as he did so. It wasn't like you could see much under all the fur but still… His knees cracked back into a human bend, while his ankles stretched until he crouched on his toes.

Wolf elbows slid back down into arms as his torso became that of a human's as well, but still coated with a thick layer of fur. The main reason that he'd changed into this form was for his black-padded but still human, hands. It was only good for that, and intimidation. ~_Are you still conscious?~ _he asked as he opened the black case and set out a few bottles, hearing a feeble, ~Yeah.~ in reply. For Daisuke, the pain had gotten much worse. He saw little black spots in his vision, and his midsection felt like hamburger.

~_Good._~ Satoshi coated his hands in the Hikari antiseptic/antibacterial gel and ran it along the gashes, wincing as he realized he could see muscle underneath. He took out some clear twine, sterilizing it, and then threaded it through a needle and began stitching it up.

~You didn't answer me…before.~ Daisuke pointed out, ignoring the tugging that he felt, and the Hikari answered smoothly.

~_A were-jaguar. They've been encroaching on our territory for a while now. Did you do anything to aggravate it?~ _Daisuke raised his black lip up a little. ~No! It just-~ He began to stir, and Satoshi pushed him back down with his elbow. ~_Stay still.~ _The Hikari started on the next slash. ~_So it was unprovoked. How irritating.~ _

Daisuke endured a long series of tugs before asked tentatively, ~Um, you're Satoshi Hikari right?~ A nod. ~Don't our clans…hate each other?~ Yellow-gray eyes blinked at the question.

~_Correct. If I had followed my packs wishes…well, you'd still be alone out here.~ _Daisuke laid down his head again and sighed. The Hikari felt the flex of it under his hands.

~So why are you doing this?~ He finished the last stitch, tied it, and began putting the bottles away. Once they were all packed, he felt inside the large kit. Taking out a blanket, he began scooting it underneath Daisuke.

He finally muttered, ~_Because I'm tired of it. Tired of killing and death.~_ Once it was completely under the red wolf, he morphed back into a full-wolf, and began dragging him over the snow, back to the river. ~W-Wait! I can still walk!~ Daisuke protested, but the Hikari snapped.

~_You __cannot__, so stop thrashing. You're tempting me to leave you here.~ _Daisuke stopped, feeling slick ice underneath the blanket as the omega pulled him across the frozen river before halting. ~_This is as far as I dare go into Niwa territory.~_ As soon as he took back the blanket, folding it to the best of his ability with paws, a long howl pierced the night air. The Hikari froze. ~_I must go.~ _Snapping the cloth up, he was halfway across the river before Daisuke managed, ~T-thank you! So much!~

The white wolf, his paws stained with the Niwa's blood, said tonelessly, ~_Whatever fantastic idea popped into your head, end it now. Things between our clans will not change. It is likely we will meet again, but with our fangs bared at each other's throats.~_ Another howl came, then he was gone, his coat blending in perfectly with the landscape.

Daisuke recognized the tone of that howl; sort of cocky and arrogant, and howled back to let his brother know where he was. "Aoouuuuu…" In what was a matter of minutes, Dark's wolf was next to him, his black and purple-tinted pelt shining in the dull light of the very early morning. He hadn't realized it was so late…

His brother changed back to his human form slipping one arm under Daisuke's thick neck ruff. "Dai, turn back into your human form so I can pick you up."

Dark wrinkled his nose at the strong smell of antiseptic, but was unable to catch anything else. "What the hell happened? If those Hikaris did anything to you, I'll…"

Daisuke managed with difficulty to summon up a memory of his human body, morphing back slowly. Everything cracked, realigning until he was himself again – sweaty and exhausted and unable to move. "But I'm…" He colored, and before he could protest Dark slipped the discarded black shorts he'd found up his legs, over Daisuke's hips.

"There, happy? I can't believe you're worrying about that when…" Dark trailed off as the redhead's eyelids fluttered. He picked him up under the legs, his little brother's head lolling against his chest.

"H- it hurts…" Pure fury welled up in Dark as he saw the full extent of the wounds, regardless that someone had stitched them up. It looked like someone had tried to disembowel him.

"It's okay… I'm gonna take you straight to mom, okay?" God, he was almost crying, shaking with rage. He wanted to kill whoever had done this to-

"k…"

Daisuke then fainted dead away within his brothers arms. Dark ran back to the house, throwing the door open and screaming for their mother.

"MOM? MOM, WAKE UP!"

* * *

Reviews motivate me to post chapters!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, just so you know:

Dark-bold, Krad-bold w/Italics

* * *

Satoshi paused as the alpha retrieved his injured brother, briefly scenting the air. It brought him back in the direction of the Niwa residence.

Once Dark was gone, he grabbed up the largest rock he could find and headed for the river. He smashed it against the ice with all his strength. It cracked just enough to yield a thin puddle of freezing cold water. The Hikari washed his paws as well as he was able, using his tongue as well as the rough ice, to rid himself of the Niwa blood before rushing back off towards his home. As he touched the doorknob, the sun bobbed just above the horizon and he was changed back against his will, warm fur being replaced with lily-white skin. He shuddered and went inside, halting abruptly as he saw his adopted sister Risa in the hallway, clad in only a towel.

Satoshi sighed, then blushed a little, wrapping a towel around his waist before commenting, "You saw him again." It wasn't a question. He could smell Dark's scent in strands of her hair and across her thin shoulders. She blushed too. Because of their curses, they'd seen each other naked more times than they were comfortable with but… Well, that was a part of Satoshi she'd prefer not to see. Not that he was lacking in any way. She blushed deeper.

"Please don't tell Krad."

The blunette was busy searching in the table for his glasses and slipped them over his nose. "I haven't. Yet." He walked up the stairs and a little past her, pausing as he noticed the change in her smell. His eyebrows drew together sharply. "I'll lecture you about him later. Please come with me." He offered her his hand and she held it, trying not to notice how large his hands were becoming. It was like her brother was suddenly turning into a man right in front of her eyes. ~When did he…~

Satoshi brought her to her room and asked, "Do you have any electronic devices or other recreational items outside of your room?" She nodded and brought the white towel a little closer around her body. "Yeah, I have my ipod and laptop downstairs, but-"

He interrupted, ordering, "Go get them." She glared for a moment before complying. When she returned Satoshi had donned a pair of sweatpants and a gray t-shirt. She noticed his expression was a little…strained. "Put them in your room."

Risa did, and as she approached the door again to come into the hallway, he blocked her within the frame gently.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Satoshi slipped the key to her room out of his pocket and placed it within its lock. "Don't you understand what's happening?" His ivory hand grasped her wrist and flipped it palm up. A foreign zing went through her body at his touch. "Look- you've been in the snow as long as I have, but you aren't cold at all. In fact, you're burning up, and your heart rate is still higher than normal, even though you're used to this much exercise. You're going into heat." She looked horrified, and Satoshi's blue eyes bored into her. "Did Krad tell you nothing about this?" Her scent hit him again, stronger this time and he dropped her hand, swallowing thickly.

"No. He didn't tell me anything."

~_Well that's just great. Bastard probably left us alone on purpose.~ _"Look I'll explain further, but right now we need to be separated, okay?" The brunette narrowed her eyes, but stepped back into her room. He closed and locked the door. He breathed a few times slowly to calm himself, and put his hand on the door.

"You've probably wondered why your…cycles haven't started yet, right?" Even from this side of the door he could feel her blushing and she banged on the door.

"WHA- SATOSHI!"

He stepped away coolly. "Fine, I won't-"

She interrupted, "Sorry! Just! Don't **ever**. Mention that again." That was fine with him. "It's because you're a werewolf. Instead you'll go through this once a year for a month, every winter. It's the only time you can conceive, so you'll become really _drawn_ to male werewolves and vice versa."

She went quiet for a moment, then asked, "Can I still go to school?"

There weren't any werewolves that he knew of in her school, so she should be fine. "I suppose…I could open your door and leave for college, and since you come home earlier than me..." He heard her sigh in relief.

"Oh, good." Then there was a pregnant pause between them. "Well, if you don't have any more questions…" She stumbled in embarrassment, "Um, I don't have any…stuff." He paused, and then finally processed what 'stuff' was. "Oh, I'll get some for you tomorrow then. Have a good morning."

He heard a feeble, "'Yeah." and put her key on top of the door frame, ignoring the pull of his body back to her door. It was going to be a long morning.

* * *

Riku twisted around in her sheets. She couldn't sleep, not only because she felt guilty about missing Daisuke's Wolf's Night, but also because every time she did fall unconscious, she had livid dreams involving either Dark or Daisuke. They were dreams she couldn't even recollect without blushing…dreams where she could feel their little wolf cubs stirring within her… Flushing, she reached up to open her bedroom window, only to realize it was open and groaned. "Auuuhhh…"

Her throat was dry, and the hairs on the back of her neck stuck down on sweaty skin. She wanted water, but not the tasteless, grainy water of her bathroom sink, no, she wanted refrigerator water. She began to salivate at the thought of it. So crisp and cold. It was five-forty am so her two brothers should be in bed by now.

Just as she opened her door and took a few tentative steps out, Dark yanked the front door open, running inside in nothing but his birthday suit and yelling,

"MOM? MOM, WAKE UP!"

Then he saw her, and she saw Daisuke, and without a second thought to the purple-haired streaker, she put a hand on Dark's arm to see the redhead more clearly.

"Oh, God, what happened to Daisu-" An unfamiliar rush ran through her body, an undeniable want and need as the smell of Dark's alpha hit the roof of her mouth. Her knees almost buckled with it. At the same time, her smell hit him. His usually well-behaved wings flared out, seemingly as a kind of defense. Those amethyst eyes filled with a strange emotion – they were apprehensive, almost fearful. "Riku…" She could barely hear him as her hormone-high wolf whispered.

~Such a fine specimen…so strong and unusual…~ She snatched her hand away with difficulty and her legs began to shake, becoming about as stable as jelly.

~…What a fine father he would make to our pups.~ Her heart throbbed and the hall began to sway and with the last bit of self-control she had she shouted, "S-sorry!" and ran back to her room.

She slammed the door and slid down the wall, curling her arms around her legs. She couldn't be thinking these things. She hated him, his perverse jokes and lack of modesty, but once it started it wouldn't stop and she found herself wondering what it would taste like, if she just leaned up and stole one kiss from him… What that body that had been so graciously displayed would- ~No!~ As Riku clamped her hands around her head, Emiko rushed down the hallway to meet her first born.

Emiko started with an agitated tone, "Dark, you're not supposed to-" and he snapped at her.

"It's a damn good thing I did! Look!" She let out a soft cry as her eyes fell on Daisuke. She promptly started giving out orders. "Dark, take him into his room, I'll meet you there in a moment with some wrapping-"

She paused and took in his bare, caramel-colored body. "…And throw some clothes on would you? Goodness gracious…" He flushed a little as his wolf muttered something rather inappropriate about the 'cute she-wolf' (Riku) and wondered why there had been that moment of intense physical attraction between them.

He'd figured that hate was hate, even in heat but apparently…not. Dark put Daisuke in bed, and went back to his own room, slipping on black sweats and a red long-sleeved shirt before returning to Daisuke's room. Emiko and Kosuke were there, and she had just finished bandaging the wound on Daisuke's belly.

"They really didn't look like wolf wounds to me, although the stitches looked done by a wolf. The gashes were too wide and deep…" Kosuke shook his head.

"Who else could it have been? There are not a lot of rogue wolves running around. We can be made, but they're usually 'mindless' and are captured and killed."

Dark sat on the mattress, and pulled the comforter up to the redhead's chest. "Is he gonna be okay?" Their mother nodded.

"He won't be going back to school anytime soon, and he might have some scarring but…oh, my poor baby." She moved some strands from his forehead and Dark felt that cold anger rear up in him again.

~**I will find whoever did this to you.~ **He and his wolf vowed silently. ~**And when I do…~ **His hand knotted in the fabric. As it did, Emiko placed her hand over his.

"Settle down. He's here and safe now." His nails had turned black and lengthened, leaving five little holes in the fabric. Dark pulled back and his nails went back to normal. "Sorry, I just…" he trailed off with a low growl. His mother massaged the back of his neck, a soft spot for werewolves, and he relaxed. "I know. But someone stitched him up, and so we need to wait until Daisuke wakes up to get the whole story, okay?"

Dark didn't really care about the whole story. Tomorrow was another full moon and if he followed Daisuke's trail, he could… "M-hmm."

"The best thing for him now is rest. Dark, did you want to sleep in here and keep an eye on him?"

He could still catch a few hours of sleep before school. He nodded and went to get his sheets and pillow, then set out the bed, but went right back to his brother's side. He leaned down, sighing into his bright red hair. ~**I'm so sorry, it's my job to protect you but…**~ That Risa Hikari girl had 'wandered' into their territory again, and although he was attracted to her, she didn't seem to understand that nothing would ever work out between them. Knowing he'd been with her while Daisuke had been attacked made him feel sick and angry. He hugged his brother gently. ~**This is never gonna happen again.**~

Daisuke made a small noise and turned into him. He rubbed his small back for a few minutes before going back to his haphazard bed.

He would find out who did this to his brother, and when he did…he would kill them.

* * *

Krad licked his cream-colored chops until most of the blood had been cleared off. He stepped almost daintily over the corpse of the muddled-gray werewolf.

The fool had attacked him first, and although the original plan was to spare him, he'd detected human blood on his muzzle and hadn't been left with any choice. The wolf within him hummed happily, but he ignored it. He didn't want to go back to the hotel just yet, although it was nearly morning. If he did, people might inquire over a naked man with blood on his mouth and hands. Best walk and run his muzzle along the ground a bit to clear it off.

~_**At least now they will know the whereabouts of those sheep and that three-year old conclusively,**_~ he thought sadly while rubbing his mouth on a hunk of frozen grass. Movement to his right made him snap his head up and he growled, his hackles rising. He was injured on his left leg and shoulder and not in the mood for a fight right now. But it wasn't wolf. It was a were-jaguar, female by the look of her smaller build, and he covered his lips. ~_**What do you want?**_~

Emerald eyes blinked as she came within twenty feet of him and stopped, her belly touching the barren earth. From here he could see the near-invisible dark gray spots decorating her black coat. ~How did you kill that wolf?~ 

He relaxed the hairs that ran down the blond stripe on his spine. Krad had never actually spoken to any of them before – he tried to avoid encounters of them whenever he could, but he hadn't been alerted to her scent over the stench of blood.

~_**I thought my attack through. When there was an opportunity, I took **__**it. But a well-protected queen like yourself shouldn't worry of such things.~ **_

He turned, and she circled around to face him. Queen wasn't an insult – it was merely a term to describe a female cat. But females of their kind were rare, so usually they were quickly designated to another member of the group to marry. It basically implied she was already paired.~ I am not a queen. I have no intention of pairing with anyone in my jamboree. Did you ever stop to consider that you are in our territory?~ Krad kept walking and ignored her heady smell as it filled his nostrils, his lip curling in amusement.

~_**I'm sure that won't last much longer. Please, don't trouble yourself – I was just leaving.**_~ She hissed, leaping for him, and his consciousness was moved aside as his wolf unexpectedly took over. It wasn't even really a battle at all – she was far outmatched. Within a few seconds, he had her pinned. His jaws were just about to crush her windpipe when Krad was shoved rudely back in control.

He blinked, and loosened his jaw.~ _**Checkmate.**_~ He felt her take two much-needed breaths underneath him.

As he drew back up her green eyes locked with his again, and he realized this creature underneath him with her sleek pelt, hypnotic eyes and lean, muscular body…

She was…

…She was beautiful.

Her small, round ears flicked back uncertainly as he stared at her. Krad had experience with women of course, but had never become so close to one as to… Surprisingly, he was still a virgin,but it wasn't as if he could go spreading his seed willy-nilly. He had to breed with someone of lower rank, who had not even a hint of 'mindless' in their history, otherwise there was a risk of his pups bearing the same burden. The blond saw that particular activity as nothing more than a means to an end. But at this particular moment…he was drawn to her so strongly he felt physically ill with desire. Barking once in fear, he jumped off her and ran, his tail straight out behind him and held high. She called for him once, but it only fueled his motivation to get away from her – he would not feel this.

~_**It's sickening**_…~

What was _wrong_ with him? She was barely even the same species!

Still…it had been there. He shook his head as he ran, but her smell clung to him like perfume and the memory of her silken fur replayed in his mind.

* * *

Krad- WTH! I am not a virgin!

Oh, yeah. Um... reviews would be great and awesome and if I don't get them, I'm just gonna sit like a lump on a log.

And everyone should give a big hurrah to my wonderful beta reader, Fireflower19. She made the flow of my chapters so much better!


	4. Chapter 4

As night came again, Dark sat on the floor next to his brother. His legs were neatly folded as he and his sleeping packmate waited for the sun to set. They were all worried – when the full moon was in the sky, their kind would transform unless it was absolutely impossible. Emiko was spending the night with Riku upstairs. He could tell by the sounds of their pacing that she had already transformed. He watched through Daisuke's window as the last molten traces of the sun disappeared on the horizon, and then it hit him.

Dark could hear Daisuke yelping, but there really wasn't much he could do until he was in one form, so he merely pushed his body faster until it was over, then pulled himself up onto the bed. ~**Daisuke! Are you okay?**~ The gray and red wolf beside him was panting, and he could see the whites of his eyes they were so wide. ~D-Dark?~

Dark took a step forward, placing his paws fully on the unsteady mattress while leaning to look at his brothers stitches. They were a little stretched, but not bleeding. Thanks to the fast healing of their kind, the swelling already looked much better than yesterday. Dark laid his large ebony paws down underneath him and leaned his body into Daisuke's tense one. ~**Yeah, I'm here. Looks like your stitches held together fine. You're gonna be A-okay. 'Sides, chicks dig scars.**~ His head was lifted as he thought this and Daisuke's wolf shoved his muzzle underneath Dark's neck ruff, his nose ending up between his brother's elbow and ribcage.

~Yeah right. Sorry, it's just- … It hurts to keep my head up.~ Even as he explained it, Dark could feel him shuddering. He put his own snout just above Daisuke's shoulder blades to hopefully give a bit of comfort.

~**Alright. Just try to go back to sleep.**~

~Okay.~ In what felt like minutes, Daisuke was in a deep sleep. Dark slipped out of their embrace slowly. He paused to look at him once before leaving his bedroom and heading off into the night, following the weak trail Daisuke had left the day before. The alpha could smell his wide human steps, and later, his more numerous wolf tracks as he followed them all the way to the Hikari border. The trail went right across the ice and Dark couldn't help but let his lip curl.

~'**Doesn't look like wolf wounds' my ass.**~ He scented the air before following the trail in the direction of a large dead tree. About halfway there he found what he'd expected – Daisuke's blood in drips and smears across the fallen snow, as if he'd been in a struggle. But there was something unexpected there as well; someone else's blood was present, but it wasn't a Hikari's, or even wolf's…

He lapped at it. As it hit the roof of his mouth, he felt he almost recognized it, although the closest thing he'd ever tasted to it was cougar blood, but… ~**That's not quite it, exactly…**~ After sniffing the area for a moment, he found two short black hairs in the snow. ~**Jaguars here? That's ridiculous. But still.**~ His wolf was insisting that's what it was and added vehemently ~**If Hikari fought little brother, why no Hikari blood?**~ Dark didn't have an answer for that either, and some of his pent-up rage dissipated some. Daisuke wasn't much of a fighter, but if one of them went after him he _would_ try to defend himself.

The most likely scenario seemed that the jaguar had attacked Daisuke first. It looked like his father was right – he would have to wait until Daisuke was better to understand what had happened here. The thought that a Hikari had actually stitched up a Niwa, especially when they were on the brink of death, was ludicrous.

He took off back to his house and once there, curled back around his little brother and waited as the night began to fade. He had set out with the intentions of tearing something to shreds, but hadn't found anything conclusive, and it irritated him to no end. ~**As if a _Hikari_** **would ever…**~

* * *

As Satoshi reluctantly took on his wolf form, he could tell that Risa's condition was deteriorating quickly – he could hear her pacing and whining in her own wolf form, and even scratching at her door. As his transformation finished, he licked his paws and settled on his bedroom floor, circling before throwing himself down and tucking his head underneath his tail. As the night went on, Risa's cries became more distressed and sometime around five in the morning, just as Satoshi was beginning to fall asleep he heard a loud crunch. He pulled himself to his feet and winced, bowing his head as the sunlight from his window forced him back into his human form.

For a half-second he allowed himself to rest on his hands and knees, stark naked. A little bead of sweat dropped off his chin and onto the thick rug.

~ _That was probably Risa… God, will we ever be free from this madness?~ _Satoshi groped around for his glasses, retrieving them from his dresser before slipping on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. Now, where was the key to lock his room? ~_Ah, that's right. I left it downstairs because…~ _Well, he didn't think he'd need it this soon. This was troublesome; he really didn't need her waltzing into his room, course at this point she'd probably just bust his doors down. He'd hoped that the peak of her heat would come later, at least when Krad or Kei was home, but this was just his kind of luck.

~_Damn!~ _Krad's room had much thicker double doors than his. If he hurried, he could grab the key out from the table in the hall and lock himself in there. ~_At least I'm not missing school.~ _he thought sarcastically, and opened his door, peering outside.

She wasn't there. Yet. He could see from here that her door was off its hinges. Yep, she'd happily bust through his doors in her condition. ~_She's really lost it…~ _That settled it. He had to fortify himself in Krad's room_. _Satoshi sprinted for it, slinging the table door open and letting out another curse at the missing key before finishing the race to the doors. He didn't need the key that badly. If worse came to worst he could just hold the doors closed… Then he saw something and put on the brakes but it was too late. That something was Risa. She grabbed the front of his shirt with more force than he thought she possessed as she smiled. But he could tell it wasn't really Risa. Her eyes were wide and darted away from him as she said, "Gotcha." He could tell her wolf was in almost complete control now as she moved to shove him past the bedroom's oak doors and shut them.

It took him half a second to realize she was naked. He opened his mouth indignantly, and hers closed over his in an unwelcome kiss. He pulled away from her, but couldn't quite find the right place to push her away – she was all heated skin.

"Risa, stop it!" Just as she moved in closer and Satoshi's mind spun with the smell of her, Krad opened the other door to his bedroom. For once, true instant surprise widened his saffron eyes, then he caught the overpowering feminine scent and dropped his suitcase. He ordered with all the authority of his alpha within, "Risa, **_sit down._**"

Satoshi stared as the command rang through her, and her legs folded slowly until she was sitting cross-legged on the Persian rug. No one dared to make a move. Krad stepped over and tapped his brother on the shoulder. Satoshi nearly jumped out of the skin, his glasses fogged with embarrassment.

"WHAT! Nothing happened, okay!" Krad blinked at his reaction and handed him a silver key he'd found discarded in the hallway. "I know that. Go and try to get some sleep, I'll call in and excuse you from college today." The bluenette stared at him, too tired to comprehend what he had just said, before finally stumbling off to bed and securely locking his door with prayers of no further incidents.

In five minutes he was asleep. Being a werewolf was tiring.

The blonde then purred at their sister, "**_Please go make yourself decent. You are not some common mindless mutt, even in heat. You are a Hikari._**"

She understood, and came back a few minutes later, fully clothed in soft pink pajamas. She walked up to the alpha, her eyes turned down submissively as she asked, "Why no? Why no pups? You say Hikari clan is becoming small, too small."

He sighed. The light played with the dark circles under his eyes, making his irises burn. His wolf had spent the whole night locked in the public restroom of the Russian airport. He was so incredibly tired he could have sworn he heard a creak as he sat down on his bed and waved a hand to permit her. "It's true, but there is not enough room right now."

She looked offended. "Not enough room!" and gestured to her long torso and wide hips. "Plenty of room! Could hold five or six pups easily." He barked a laugh.

"I meant here in the house. Even though Kei and I make a good amount, it wouldn't be enough to feed and clothe them..." Usually, their female carried twins or triplets, so their mother, and the mother of the Niwa boys carrying only one each time was a bit of an anomaly. "…Do you sort of understand?" It was funny how rational her wolf was compared to her human self, Krad thought as she nodded, and added, "Besides I doubt if the human Risa is ready for any of that mentally." Risa's wolf shook her head. Krad didn't like controlling her like this – with the power of his rank – but at this point he didn't have much choice. She was an omega and unlike his brother, he could control her wolf if he needed to, like now.

It was hard to talk to wolves and make them understand human reasons, but it seemed to be working out fine. "You should probably go back to your roo-"

"No!" Risa seemed alarmed by her own outburst and looked away from him meekly, explaining, "It's worst…when we are alone." He watched as she clasped her hands together and snagged up Japanese words from Risa's human memory, stringing them together as best she could. "Understand now. But...won't stop the want. Could…I stay with you?" Krad's feline eyes narrowed and she added quickly, "Won't do anything, know there is not enough for pups now, but being close helps." Krad ran a hand through his limp hair. His wolf didn't care that she was his adopted sister because they weren't blood related, so he would gladly…fulfill her need.

But he was also just as tired as Krad so he would probably not have much more energy to do anything other than sleep. Krad would have to fix her door tomorrow and…maybe even let her stay in here because of the thicker doors until this passed, although the idea of sleeping in her sickeningly pink bedroom appalled him. He stood and retrieved his luggage, disemboweling his suitcase as he unpacked. "Alright. Just for tonight."

She smiled and helped him unpack before grabbing her pillow and blanket and setting up a bed right next to his. While she collapsed gracelessly into her bed, Krad climbed meticulously into his, placing his hair tie on the nightstand and pulling the blackish-blue curtains of his four-poster bed around himself. "Um, have a good sleep…" She ventured and he answered listlessly, "Mm-hmm."

His unrestrained hairs spread behind him like spun yarn. Krad was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, but he felt his wolf flicker to life and roll his body over once. The alpha observed the sleeping Risa for a moment, and then seemed to make as decision. He leaned down with one hand pressing into the floor, and as it held his body up, he buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent. ~**_Hey, stop it!~_** He snapped in alarm, and his wolf replied coolly, ~**_Relax. She's far too young for my taste. And in any case, I'm too tired._**~ He merely cradled her possessively up against his chest for a moment before fully returning to Krad's bed, kicking off the sheets and curling into a ball before drifting off. Krad breathed a long sigh of relief, letting his own eyes close.

As Dark laid his head back over Daisuke's muzzle, the redhead kept his breathing steady and low, waiting to see if he'd catch a whiff of that she-wolf Dark had been visiting. He wouldn't ever tell anyone unless he was forced to, but he was a little worried. If something happened between them… It wasn't like he didn't trust his older brother, but frankly if a 'situation' presented itself, Daisuke doubted Dark would behave much better than a stallion who'd stumbled upon a mare in heat.

The redhead flitted in and out of painful dreams, and felt every breath that he took flexing against his stitches until finally, mercifully, the sun rose. As soon as he morphed back he moved to get out of bed, but his brother pushed him back gently. "You probably shouldn't move around Dai. I'll get'cha some clothes…"

But before he made it back Daisuke had already passed out again, his body coping the only way it knew how with two transformations and a huge wound to heal.

Dark sighed and put some clothes on himself, pulling the comforter that matched the redhead's hair over his form before closing the door with a discreet snap. His hackles rose quickly as he heard a thin, desperate howl over the tundra. He didn't recognize it, but he certainly didn't like it. He waited by Daisuke's door, but it didn't come again, so he went back to his room to prepare himself for school.

* * *

The she-wolf hung her finely tapered head as the sunlight caught the trickling of blonde in her neck and down her spine. She knew he was here now – they had finally moved back because the Niwa's had left Japan and she had hoped…he'd hear her, because she knew better than to approach them. Even if he didn't care, or cursed her when she told him the truth of her. He still had a right to know, if he hadn't suspected already. He wasn't a dumb child, though he never had been.

If anything he was too smart for his own good. But unfortunately these nights were slowly becoming her last chances. She was being deported in two months for one reason or another, no doubt because her neighbors had become too freaked out by her nighttime habits and had finally made something up. She bared her teeth in frustration ~_I've waited this long. I will wait as long as I need to for you, love.~ _She then vented her anger through the muscles of her powerful limbs, and sped off towards home.

* * *

I think you all know what to do at this point-review!


	5. Chapter 5

When Dark came home from high school he took off his shoes, put his bag on the counter and headed off to his brother's room immediately. Emiko was walking down the hall and he asked, "How's he doing?" His mother smiled.

"Better. He woke up a couple of times, but only for a few minutes. He asked where you were every time." Dark snorted.

"Can't even heal without me, eh? Not surprised…" Emiko flicked his hair.

"Oh be nice. He's going through a rough time. When you first transformed I remember you asking for a certain redhead, too." The thief pretended not to remember and went and plopped himself in the desk chair waiting in Daisuke's room, then scooted it up to his brother's mattress.

"Hey, Dai." He didn't wake up, but Dark wasn't surprised. He'd slept for three days after his first transformations, but it was almost second nature to him now. When he saw Daisuke asleep with that 'helpless' vibe he always gave off, it reminded him of when Emiko had first brought him home.

Dark had been almost four and he'd sulked a little because Daisuke was getting all of the attention, but after six months something changed. He started to like him – when he was happy, so was Dark, and when he cried, Dark tried his best to help him. So one day he finally got up the courage to ask, "Mommy can I hold him? I won't drop him, I promise!" Emiko had sat down on the couch next to him.

"Alright but be very careful – he's heavy."

He'd nodded at least eight times, and finally she plopped Daisuke into his arms. "Oof!" Dark moved Daisuke's little body to fit better, and those round ruby eyes caught his. He stared at the redhead and he'd giggled, wrapped his arms around Dark's neck and snuggled into him like a puppy. " H-hi, Daisuke," he'd said. Daisuke had then grumbled contentedly, his tiny fingers feeling along his brother's caramel skin. Dark grinned at the memory – Daisuke still had the nickname 'the magnet' because in his sleep he tended to spoon anyone that might be sharing the bed with him. It was the real reason the redhead never had sleepovers.

All of them tended to be more physical than regular humans – it was a werewolf thing, though still amusing.

Dark got out of the chair and stretched, moving to the other, free side of Daisuke's bed, flexing his feet. ~Let's see if you live up to your title…~ Dark laid down, and sure enough, a few minutes later, Daisuke's head was on his shoulder. A few moments after that, it moved to his chest. Dai's hands were curled up to his chest like a little kids. His spiky hair was tickling Dark's neck, but he didn't move a muscle. It would all pay off soon enough.

Daisuke was having a good dream about running around in his wolf form when it suddenly changed into him curling up to someone and there was nothing but a thundering heartbeat under his left ear. "Hnn…" It was kind of nice actually, but then he realized it was a manly beat – there was no soft cleavage… "…n?"

He opened his eyes and Dark slipped one arm around his hips, batted his eyelashes as he said huskily, "I'll bet next time someone tells you not to accept candy from strangers, you'll listen."

Daisuke flushed so red he resembled a fire hydrant as he pointed to his bedroom door. "Get-get out of my bed, Dark!" Instead, his brother encircled him with his other arm and continued, "Aww, that's not what you said last night…" while nuzzling his head before realizing the true source of Daisuke's discomfort – he was only wearing a pair of boxers.

The redhead beat feebly at his chest and retorted, "I said out! It wasn't even that great!" and then gave him a face full of downy-filled pillow.

"Oof! Oh, you're cruel!" Dark coughed and waved the feathers out of the air, then went to open the bedroom door, yelling, "Oi! Dai's awake now!" Dark sat back down on the desk chair and noticed a sheen of sweat on Dai's forehead. "Hold on a second." Dark went to the kitchen and filled up a cup with cool water, then returned and handed it to him before sitting on the mattress.

"Oh, thanks." Daisuke almost drained it, waiting until Emiko and Kosuke had arrived before saying, "I bet everyone wants to know what happened, huh?" None of them had to answer, but Dark injected helpfully, "Hell yeah, we do."

The redhead took the last swig of water and began, "Well I know this sounds crazy but…"

* * *

Krad woke up blissfully slowly, feeling the winter sunlight in a warm strip across his cheek and down his neck, hearing the sound of the wind searching for a way inside their haven. ...He then noticed Risa's smell and sighed, but when he tried to pull his bluish-gray comforter over his head something snagged in his hair.

He winced. ~Well, it's not like this hasn't happened before…~ He wished her scent was a little less potent – it was stirring his wolf, and besides that it made it hard to remember the smell of that she-jaguar… He'd thought she was beautiful, but realized now it was a grim miscalculation – it was like saying the ocean was 'wet'.

There simply wasn't a Japanese word to describe it fully. He much preferred French and Italian. At least when they said the word it sounded like what it should be; a soft trilling and rolling of the tongue. ~Wait, why am I even…?~ He changed his train of thought abruptly, gingerly lifted his head. ~Now, what am I stuck-~

Krad saw that his locks were being held captive in a loose female hand. It appeared that he had no choice. He'd have to wait until she woke to be free, because every time he tried to move, her hand gripped tighter. It surprised him to see how dependent her wolf was on him. Maybe if he just tried waking her up… "...Risa," he called. Her hand gripped harder around the captive flaxen strands. "Ow – that's my hair…" She sat up, and he could see her rubbing her face with her free hand, her brunette mess curled around her neck.

"Huh? Oh." She untangled her fingers from the mass. "Sorry." Krad gathered it behind his head and snapped a black band around it.

"It's fine." He stretched luxuriously with his arms above his head, and then hopped out of bed to check his reflection. It had greatly improved with sleep, and now was the same as it had always been – the rather large yellow eyes; not buggy but feline, that absorbed the shades of brown or saffron off reflective surfaces around him. These were accompanied by a fairly narrow nose and a mouth that was a little too sensual for his liking. It was this feature that had first ignited the suspicions.

From what he remembered of his mother and the pictures, her lips were well-shaped like his, but conservatively small. He'd done some research in the family history to see if it was merely some throwback DNA, though as far as he'd looked (nearly five generations) no one even had the same eyes or hair, much less the shape of his face or lips. He sincerely doubted that his entire _face_ resulted from some genetic abnormality.

"Risa, come over here for a moment."

She obeyed, and he placed her next to him in front of the full-length mirror. "Who do you think I look like more, Kei or Rio?" He was glad in a way Risa still wasn't quite her human self – wolves tended to be brutally honest.

"You don't really look like either of them," she responded softly.

He patted her head before heading off to the shower and saying, "Yes, that's just what I was thinking…" It wasn't just that though. In fact, he'd have been content to let the matter lie save for one thing. Occasionally when he and Kei were in the same room filing papers or writing reports he'd noticed something odd. Krad would glance up from his papers for one reason or another and find Kei staring at him. Straight out staring, like he was a particularly exotic animal in a zoo. The gazes always held hunger.

It was unsettling, and every time their gazes met he would then look away, but before then… He'd see an absolute fire of unspoken emotion in Kei's blue eyes.

Kei had been a good father to them, but after Rio died the affectionate part of him shriveled, and he'd buried himself in his work. So in those moments, when Krad caught him, he began to wonder just who Kei Hikari was seeing. Because it certainly wasn't him.

* * *

As Daisuke finally finished his explanation and leaned back into his pillow, Dark snarled, "But why the Hell would he do that? Does he think that we _owe _them something now?" Daisuke shook his head, but his whole family seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"It wasn't like that! He didn't just stitch me up and say 'guess you owe me one'. He just said he was tired of death." Dark snorted disbelievingly, but Kosuke and Emiko seemed to be considering his words.

"Maybe…there is finally a Hikari among them who-"

Dark interrupted, "Are you kidding me? I just stole a friggin' chemistry set's worth of ingredients from them a month ago! Just because they're tired doesn't mean they're gonna stop trying to find a cure, and the first thing they're gonna do when they have it is force it on us."

"I almost forgot… What did you do to settle that boundary dispute?" Kosuke asked as he crossed his arms. "Whaddya think? I split it right down the middle, fair and square. If they can't accept that, then I don't know what else I can do." Their father seemed relieved.

Emiko grasped her younger son's hand gently. "Daisuke, honey, would you like something to eat? You haven't eaten in days." He nodded eagerly, and as Emiko got up to leave Dark barked jealously.

"Hey! What about me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You didn't think I'd noticed you'd helped yourself to the pork buns once you got home? Honestly…" He colored. "Whatever."

Emiko left the three men of the house alone. "I hope Riku gets better soon," Daisuke ventured into the quiet room. Dark slapped a palm to his forehead.

"Really, Dai? I told ya she'll be fine. Besides it's a trade-off for her awesome transformation." The redhead blinked.

"What?"

Dark realized he didn't know. "Oh. I forgot you've never seen her transform before. Well, you know how ours are all jerky and unpredictable? Hers is the opposite. It's fast, smooth and almost painless." He shrugged. "It's like she just becomes her wolf flawlessly. 'Course, I never get to see the beginning part but-"

Kosuke interrupted, "Dark!" He went silent, although laughter sparkled in his eyes. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the feather necklace Emiko had confiscated on his Wolf's Night.

"Here. It's kinda a congratulatory gift for surviving, I guess." As Daisuke slipped it over his head, the reality of how close he'd come to death hit him. All of the sudden he felt kinda...weak and sweaty. His brother saw the change in mood and scooted up next to him, placing Dai's head on his shoulder, "Hey, I-I'm sorry..." Kosuke watched their interactions and wished, not for the first time, that he had been present a little more in their childhoods. If he had, perhaps they wouldn't have learned to rely on each other so heavily.

He wondered, as they grew, how they would handle growing apart from each other. Dark waited until Daisuke calmed and patted his shoulder once before saying, "Alright, Dai, I gotta go do some homework, but I'll see you in a bit, okay?" He reached a hand under Dai's bed, grabbing and plopped a few books into the redhead's lap. "Here. Hurry up and get better, okay?" Dark ruffled his hair before leaving. The redhead smiled, then, noticing their father, inquired softly, "Dad?" It snapped Kosuke out of his thoughts and his staring.

"It's nothing. Let us know if you need anything, okay, Daisuke?" His son nodded, letting the matter go. Kosuke smiled and left, closing the door with a soft click behind him.

* * *

As the blond Hikari stepped into their upgraded glass shower, he turned on the hot water and yanked open the shoulders-width window in the tiled wall. Cold air gushed in and steam billowed out, blocking his view momentarily. The water beat his ivory skin rhythmically and he sighed, opening his wings happily, arching and stretching the joints as best he could in the not nearly large enough shower. The tops of the feathery arches rested about two feet above his head, while the long primaries brushed his ankles.

Actually, they weren't even at their full size – but he hardly let them out their full width and height unless he needed to fly. He rubbed at the roots of them; where his skin turned into soft downy feathers, then reached for the soap, glancing out the window as he did so. He paused as he saw someone limping through the snow, taking short jerky steps through their northern pasture. Pulling his wings in so the tops were hidden by his shoulders, he squinted to see the person better. They stumbled and fell, then laid still in a bare patch of Earth. "What on Earth..." Krad whispered out loud, and waited to see if the figure would move again.

When it didn't he felt an unwelcome pang of irritation. ~Why do these things always happen when I'm in the shower?~ He turned off the water, dressing and putting on a pair of leather boots before heading outside. He remembered they'd left the horse he and Satoshi had affectionately dubbed 'The Bitch' out to pasture, and as he approached he saw the jet-black mare approaching the motionless figure with her ears slicked back.

"Midnight, get away," Krad said warningly, using the name Risa had picked out for the horse. She merely lifted her thick lips and stepped closer to the unmoving figure. She loved to bite, kick, or generally harm any person in the vicinity of herself, and this unconscious victim presented a perfect opportunity.

"I said get away, Bitch!" Krad snarled and lifted his wings through the fabric of his shirt, spreading them to their full length and flexing them upwards. She neighed angrily and stamped a hoof before fleeing back to her stall on the other end of the field. Krad stood with his wings exposed for a few more seconds, just in case she would come back, then folded them discreetly. As he did, they went back into two grooves near his spine and seemed to disappear completely. The fabric of his shirt was left unharmed. The white limbs had the extraordinary ability to lift through even the heaviest leather without splitting it, as if the material were mere air.

He didn't quite understand how himself, and was quite sure that if he checked into a clinic to have them examined, he'd never check out again.

He rolled the person on the ground onto their back, and was shocked to find it was a young woman nearly the same age as him. She was dressed inappropriately for a walk in the tundra – wearing jeans, a thin sweatshirt and, strangely, no socks or shoes. Her feet were blistered, bleeding, and almost blue, and as Krad picked up her scent he realized she was the very were-jaguar he'd been thinking of that morning. Before his brain could think him out of it, he slipped one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders, cradling her against his warm torso. She was so cold…

As his boots crunched in the snow and he carried her back to the warmth of his home, her head lolled into his chest and he thought, ~What have I gotten myself into?~

* * *

Alrighty. Thanks everyone for reviewing ^^ Whadja think of this one?

(And I have fully prepared myself for your review mentally and physically, Fireflower19)


	6. Chapter 6

First he wrapped her feet after bandaging them to stop the bleeding, then put two thick blankets around her small shoulders and placed her in front of the fire, but not too close. He didn't want to warm her up too quickly. The fire was constantly lit in the winter as homes like these didn't have central heating.

Krad found that she had only been bitten by frostbite – none of her digits had turned black from the cold. Which was a blessing, although he guessed it had something to do with her feline heritage. On another note, he didn't like touching peoples feet without their permission, but through all of his treatment she barely stirred, and when she did it was only to burrow deeper into the blankets. Just as he'd finished bandaging, Satoshi stumbled downstairs and caught them. "What the heck is going on-"

They both heard a door slam upstairs and Krad said evenly, "I suggest you get off to college before she regains her memory of what happened between you two."

The bluenette colored, pushing his glasses up his nose before shutting the door as the blonde turned back to the woman. She had long wavy black hair, lengthy eyelashes and skin that made a fake tan pale in comparison. He probably should remove her clothing, considering how damp it was, but that would be highly inappropriate.

Once he finished his treatment he sat in the chair next to hers and crossed his arms. He was on-call today, so just what was he going to do if he got called out? He didn't want her to wake up in an empty stranger's house and moreover, he wanted to know just what she'd been doing outside dressed like that.

After a few minutes Risa came downstairs in her school uniform and exclaimed, "For some reason this morning I was doing my routine in your bathroom. And I had the weirdest dream…Who is that?" She grabbed a banana and her bag as Krad explained, "I found her this morning in the b- in Midnight's pasture."

Risa adjusted her skirt and muttered, "S' about time you got a girlfriend, anyway," then covered it with, "Well, see you later." Krad glared at the front door as it closed and then released his wings, gathering them around himself and began to preen. They were surprisingly flexible and arched around the front of his body with ease. For some reason the mind-numbingly slow and repetitive process calmed him and he definitely needed to settle down.

She – her proximity and the soft rise and fall of her chest as she breathed…unsettled him. He shook himself and went back to the matter at hand.

The Hikari liked his wings best in the firelight; he took on the golden and reddish hues of the flames and became quite glorious to behold. He licked his thumb and forefinger and ran it across the rungs of one feather, then another and another as he waited for her to wake up, his mind a great jumble of questions. When he'd finished the right wing and was just about to start on the left, he heard a small cooing and hid them, watching her warily as she shifted under his blankets.

Finally her emerald eyes opened. Her arms drew up to her chest defensively as she looked around the room and finally locked on him.

"Good morning."

She seemed offended by his voice and demanded, "What- Who are you?" as if she could do anything to him in her current state.

"You don't recognize my scent?" he asked easily, and after she tested the air she said softly, "Oh." She stared into his wolf-yellow eyes skeptically and after a few seconds of this he snarled, "Anything you would like to share?"

She flushed a little and cuddled his blankets closer to her small frame.

"They're fake." His wings, completely unused to such accusations, fluffed angrily underneath his shirt.

"Excuse me?"

"Your eyes. They're contact lenses, right?"

He stared at her, then went into the kitchen to get her some water and threw over his shoulder, "Do I look like the kind of individual who wears yellow contact lenses?" She replied immediately, "Yes," and he bristled. To hide it, he rummaged around loudly in the pots until he found a pan and started the stove, then retrieved some eggs, tomatoes and a bell pepper from the fridge.

"Well, they are not. I was born with blue eyes, but they changed after…after I became what I am. Do you have any food allergies?"

Her voice replied back, "I don't believe you, and no. Why?" He realized she sounded tired.

"I'm making you an omelet." She went silent at his offering of food and as he cooked the eggs he mulled over her words ~**_How dare she-~_**

"Thank you." It was very quiet and almost grudgingly said. He was genuinely caught off guard by it.

"You're welcome."

After a few minutes he dished up the omelet and brought it over, along with the water, but hesitated when she reached out to take it. Although she tried to hide it, he could see her hands shaking. He decided to set the omelet on his wood chair. "Let me see your hands." She hid them.

"No."

Krad opened his mouth, then shut it as he realized he didn't even know her name.

"I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Krad Hikari." He paused and when she didn't say anything, added, "This is the part where you give me your name."

"We're not supposed to give our names to your kind." Still, she held out her hands for him to inspect and he took them in his. "I gave you mine, knowing full well what you are." Her hands were still so cold… His wolf nudged his way to the front and before he could warn her, he was merely a spectator as his wolf caught onto her words.

"My name is Souen Sawamura," she smiled and added, "your hands are really…hot."

Krad's animal placed her hands against his sternum and explained, "The full moon was just yesterday – my temperature doesn't go back down to an acceptable human level until a week after." She instantly noticed the change in him. His voice sounded gravelly, like it had to work its way around rocks before coming from his mouth, and the whites of his eyes had almost disappeared.

"Krad, are you okay?" She pulled her hands back fearfully. His wolf gave a little bow and said, "I'm Krad's wolf. Sorry about earlier – sometimes I get overexcited during a fight."

Before she could respond he dropped to his knees in front of her chair, put his hands on the arm and asked to Krad's utter embarrassment, "Could you pat my head?"

It was her turn to stare.

"Please? I don't get them very often, and granted, I'm not 'good' very often, but…" he trailed off as she placed one tan hand on his head. Souen nearly gasped. His hair felt like warm downy feathers. "Al-Alright. Just for a moment." She worked her fingers through his foreign flaxen locks and as one of her fingers brushed his left ear, he let out a whine. "Huh?"

He flushed slightly. "Um, I-" the rest of his words were reduced to growls and sighs of contentment as she rubbed his ear.

"Could you do me a favor?" she asked through his trance and he replied agreeably, "M-hmm..." while leaning into her hand. "Would you bring me that omelet?" Souen's hand went back to her lap and he pouted slightly before standing to fetch the food from the other chair, setting it in her lap. "Thanks." She tried to get a fork load up to her mouth, but after a few moments Krad's wolf realized this obviously wasn't working. Every time the fork came close the egg fell of the end from her unsteadyness. He snatched the fork from her, regardless of her protests and cut off a piece of the egg.

"Here." Souen pursed her lips and turned her head.

"No. You are not feeding me and that's final."

Krad sighed. "If you don't eat now you're not going to get stronger, and then I'll have to keep feeding you. Besides, I won't tell anyone, I promise." Souen glanced back and forth and then told him, "If you break your promise, you're not going to get pats from me ever again." Krad's wolf cringed.

"Never, ever?" She nodded and he looked down at the carpet dejectedly. "Okay." Then she bit the egg off the fork, chewed and swallowed. "This actually isn't bad." If he'd had a tail then, it would have wagged as he explained, "My human's the only one in the family who can cook." He cut her another piece. Somewhere in his mind, Krad was yelling at him to stop, but he ignored it. It wasn't like he was making pups with her or anything. Soon enough the omelet was gone and Souen lay back down in the blue blankets.

"So you're a mindless then." Krad's wolf nodded again and sat down next to her legs with his head level to her knees. "Our family has all kinds of horror stories about wolves like you, but…I'd rather even be paired to you than my cousin." His head jerked up in surprise and she continued, "That's why I was out here so late. My parents said I could come back only when I'd agreed to marry him..." A yawn interrupted her train of thought. "I'm going to take a little nap."

Krad yawned, imitating her and then lay his head on her knees, wrapped his arms around her legs and said, "Okay, I will too." She flushed and shoved at him with her leg.

"No! Go sleep upstairs!" The wolf gripped her legs tightly and gritted his teeth.

"No! I'm lonely!" He buried his face in one of her knees. She stopped thrashing and filled in the sudden silence with a soft "What?" His arms relaxed around her legs and he covered quickly.

"Nothing. I'm going to sleep." He buried his head again, stubbornly refusing to move until she fell asleep at some unknown point. Just as his own wolf was drifting off, Krad regained control. The blonde untangled himself from her, disgusted that this affection could be seen so plainly through his wolf, and went to go call his ferrier. "Hello?" A short pause, then – "Krad, hello! How is that mare of yours?" Krad could think of many words to describe 'how she was' but none of them were the kind of language he used in good society.

"She is going into heat in a few weeks. Could you come over this weekend?" Krad heard a neigh in the background and his ferrier, Kyo, apologized.

"Sorry, I really can't. Me and the wife are going out on a trip, and she keeps pressuring me about retiring." Krad moved the glass of water to a side table next to Souen and went back to the kitchen.

"What about that apprentice of yours? Is he skilled?" Kyo laughed. "I wouldn't recommend him for Midnight if he wasn't. I think he is available this weekend. Would you like his number?" Krad breathed out in relief.

"Yes, please." He then fetched a pen and paper out of the side table and copied down the number.

"He'll probably be taking over for me soon," Kyo added and Krad said softly, "I'm sorry to hear that." Kyo laughed again. "I'm not. Got kicked so many times in the crotch it's a wonder I had children at all." The Hikari let out a soft laugh himself and said, "Well, I'll try this boy of yours and if he's no good, I'll call you back and pay you double."

Kyo snorted. "Right. Well, goodbye." Krad hung up and dialed the other number, the tone grating on his suddenly raw nerves. After two or three rings he heard a great shuffling and then a sharp, businesslike, but somehow arrogant voice that he knew too well bark, "Hello?" For a moment his brain completely shut down, and as it did, the Alpha Niwa said again, "Hellooo?"

Krad snarled, "NO, no, absolutely not!" and was about press the 'end' button as hard as he possibly could when Dark exclaimed, "KRAD? How did you- Why the hell are you-" and Krad couldn't help but snap, "I cannot believe Kyo would make someone so low and undeserving his apprentice!"

Dark growled back, "You don't know how I perform! You've never even…You need a ferrier?"

"Yes, and it is absolutely none of your business!" Krad seethed. "I shall simply call Kyo back and find a new-"

Dark interrupted rudely, "You know damn well Kyo's the only decent one from here to the next town, Krad. Just tell me what the animal needs done." He was sincerely tempted to hang up, but Krad muttered, "Shots, her teeth rasped, and new shoes. And advice on the fence since she's coming into heat."

Dark ventured, "Why don't you just let me-" and Krad stopped him, "No. Just no. I'm sure your skills are quite inadequate-"

Dark interrupted again, "What is your address?"

Krad replied without thinking, "4932 Se. Staruger road." He went silent as Dark said cheerfully, "Alright, see around six tomorrow then." There was a click as the dial tone came loudly through the speaker. Krad stared at the phone, then brought his arm up and faced the window with the clear intention of throwing it out with all the force he could muster.

He stood there frozen for a moment, then swore quietly and set it back down. How exactly was he going to explain this to Kei when he got home? Maybe if he just answered the door and sent him off it would be fine. Speaking of which, he also needed to get in contact with Souen's parents. No matter what her odd situation was, they were probably still worried about her. ~**_That stupid idiotic phantom thief! This is probably all his fault. When he gets here I will-~_**

His thoughts were neatly cut off as Souen made a small content noise and his wolf commented happily ~ **_I like her. I like her a lot. She would make a good wife – a good mother._**~

Krad flushed and felt the feathers on his wings ruffle. He slicked them back down quickly and snarled, ~ **_Please. Those pats went right to your head. Once she wakes up, I will find out where her home is, drop her off and that will be the end of it.~ _**

His wolf didn't say anything but Krad felt a foreign rush of almost sadness that definitely did not belong to him.

~**_Pull yourself together. Next time, try not to tell visitors things that are completely false about me.~ _**He snatched a book off his shelf and threw himself into the chair opposite of the unconscious woman. His wolf snapped back, ~**_Not false. We are both lonely in our hearts, and have been since Rio died._**~ The blonde closed his book as the memory of her washed over him in a vivid memory –

_Her hands were underneath his arms and lifted him up until their faces were level. He'd hurt himself again; scraped his knee – after all he was only three, so it was only natural. She then held him against her chest with his blonde head under her chin and murmured, "Shh, come here. You're so brave, you know that, Krad?" _

_As she held him he noticed his feet almost had their own little platform to rest on and he asked, "Mommy, why is your tummy so big?" Rio put him down on the kitchen chair and got a band-aid out of the pantry, then put is across his knee. "I already told you, honey. Your little brother is in here, asleep inside." She smiled and cupped her hand underneath the swell in her white shirt. "Would you like to see? He's just started moving around." The bluenette took his tiny hand, and just as she placed it against her belly, Satoshi kicked hard. Krad stared and then looked up at her in alarm, "Doesn't that hurt?" She laughed – a soft tinkling sound._

_"No, it lets me know he's okay." The tiny Krad sighed impatiently and leaned his whole frame against the bump, his hands in the fabric on either side of her shirt. _

_"I wanna see him, Mommy. I wanna hold him." She had hugged him very gently and warned him, "Careful." and he leaned back a little. "Oh, Kraddy, you will." He did, four months later at her funeral, when Satoshi was wailing so loud his father simply handed the baby to Krad and ushered him into the church._

_"Here, you're good with him." He hadn't really understood what was going on, but he'd caught on to everyone else's sadness and of course, his mother lying there so still. Satoshi obviously had, too, and was crying his heart out in the loudest way possible. Krad didn't know what to do; he was barely four years old and it made him want to cry, but instead he held Satoshi up real close to his heart like Kei had. "It's okay, brother, just please please be quiet or else I'll…" _

_He'd sniffed and dropped to his knees, the uncomfortable black fabric of his suit making it hard to sit. "Just sssshhhhhhh…." The infant quieted and Krad continued to make that soft noise until Satoshi got real heavy in his arms and his eyes closed._

_Then he imitated his father once more and kissed his brother on the forehead, leaning back against the church wall. "Goodnight. I love you."_

Krad shook his head to clear his mind, opened his book and ignored the sudden wetness around the corners of his falcon eyes. They were all fine now.

Not happy, but…fine.

* * *

I really didn't mean for that flashback to be such a downer...R and R please?


	7. Chapter 7

*Boris – to fight

*Souen – beautiful/garden

Souen slept for the rest of the afternoon, oblivious to Krad moving and re-bandaging her feet once more. She seemed warm enough. He scooted her chair just a fraction away from the fire and was relieved to see that most of the cuts had already closed. If she was lucky she could start walking a little tomorrow.

Still, he needed to contact her parents. After the initial hesitation he took her shoulder and shook her gently. "Miss Souen…wake up." She saw him, stared for another moment and asked with a studying gaze, "Are you back to normal now?" He flushed – he'd hoped she wouldn't bring that up, but she seemed to have _that_ kind of personality.

"Quite. Now that you've seen the nature of my condition I'm sure you're even more eager to return to your home, so please, divulge your phone number to me, or allow me to escort you home tomorrow morning." Instead of answering she asked bluntly, "Are you and your wolves usually so…different? I thought…"

Krad noticed a rather fat ginger tom through his front window in his yard and his tongue flicked across lips. He'd reminded his neighbors to keep 'fatso' off his property…

"No. Usually, aside from the 'wolfish' tendencies, they are quite in sync." She lifted her bandaged feet and rubbed them, wincing as she did so.

"I'm not- … Your wolf seems…nice. I was brought up on stories of all of you being bloodthirsty." Souen gestured for him to give her the phone. "If you talk to them, my dad's going to go into cardiac arrest." Krad snorted, "I hope you've come up with a very good explanation for this" and handed it to her as she snorted, "Of course I have."

Her smell, a bit more obvious now that deodorant and shampoo had faded, told him she was quite high-ranked within her jamboree. After a few rings someone answered and the blonde listened as she spun a rather elaborate web of lies. "Hi, Dad. Yeah, I know and I'm really sorry- … Well, I hurt my feet. I went over to Alena's and we dared each other to walk in the snow." He heard the voice on the other line increase and Souen apologized again. "I won though, so that's something. She was going to drop me off tomorrow and apologize, but her car broke again so her…cousin is going to drop me off."

Souen made a mental note to call Alena and tell her all about this in case it came up later.

The Hikari raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, but she held a finger up to her full lips. "Her house isn't very far so it should be fine. No, you don't need to pick me up-" Krad's eyes widened "-I'm staying with Alena and her parents are taking care of me until then." The blonde lifted his hands and she shushed him again. "Okay, sounds good. Say hello to Boris for me." After a few tense moments she hung up and he took the device from her with a quick, "Who is Boris?" Her eyes dropped and her hands curled around each other as she explained softly, "My brother. He was attacked by a rouge werewolf, a pure white one. He hasn't been out of bed since." **_~Pure white?~ _**

"Did it have juvenile eyes? A grayish-yellow?" Souen glanced up at him in surprise. "Yes! Did you catch him or…?" Krad ran a hand through his hair, a telltale sign that he was lying and murmured, "Not yet."

**_~Satoshi, you fool.~ _**Krad offered his hand to her. "I am sorry, but the only place I can offer for you to sleep is the sofa bed. I'm guessing...you don't really like the smell of wolves, so…"

Her long black hair rippled as she unwound herself from the blankets and said, "That's fine. Your kind doesn't smell bad, just kind of doggish."

As they continued down the hallway, Souen realized that nature was calling her and paused. "Um, where is your bathroom?" He indicated down the hallway with his head, but as he began to walk with her she ducked out from under his arms, proclaiming, "I can do that myself, thank you!" Surprised, he waited as she made her way down the seemingly endless hallway, her feet aching with every step. She opened the door, closed it and reappeared a few minutes later.

As she limped back to him, he felt another twinge of irritation. If she'd simply accepted his help she wouldn't be in so much pain now. Just as she approached, a pinch of pain seized her heel and she was thrown off balance – straight into Krad's wide chest. Instead of helping her as he felt his duty was, he merely waited for her to regain her balance, a slight blush touching his cheeks as she grasped his shirt in an attempt to recover. Another snap of pain attacked her other foot and just as she was about to drop to the ground, Krad caught her underneath her arms, bowed to catch her legs and was holding her bridal-style in his arms. "Let me go!" she demanded. He merely blinked and replied, "You are such a child. If you needed help, I was right there."

She pounded on his chest, her strikes becoming feeble as the warmth coming from him beckoned her to sleep. "I didn't and especially not from one of your kind! And I'll tell you another thing…" It was a ways to the couch and as Krad carried her the strikes (painless as they were) and thinly-veiled threats faded, finally stopping as they reached their destination. He paused as he realized she was asleep and held her, feeling the expanding of her ribcage and the beat of her heart, like a peach in her chest. To his wolf, the sound was quite loud.

She was so small…her hands and feet barely larger, although certainly not smaller than a child's. Breakable. He laid her down and wrapped her in sheets, tucking them in.

"Goodnight," he barely said as his wolf heard the front door click open. He walked into the hallway and welcomed home his brother and sister, encouraging Risa to lock her door and asked Satoshi just as he was ascending the stairs, "May I speak with you a moment?"

His brother came down and just as he opened his mouth to ask why, Krad took the other's hands and lifted them up to his nose. He breathed in near the pads of the fingers and murmured, "…Niwa…and jaguar blood. You almost hid it. Next time I'd suggest something stronger, like garlic."

The bluenette flushed – he'd used Risa's lilac soaps to scrub his hands with the days before. Krad's brassy, almost rust-flecked eyes bored into blue velvet. "Anything you'd like to tell me?" Satoshi swallowed, ready to spin a spectacularly believable tale and the blonde added softly and swiftly, "I'm not angry. I merely wish to know."

"I saw a reddish-gray Niwa wolf getting gutted by one of those jaguars. I drove it off but...the Niwa left right afterward; back across the border, so I didn't go after him." The blonde studied him, determining by his body language he was telling most of the truth. But not all was not good enough. "Where were you?" Satoshi mutterd, Near the dead tree." It was a ways from the Niwa borders. "I sincerely doubt he was too fast for you to catch, brother." A little beat of sweat ran down Satoshi's chin, but his eyes didn't drop from the alpha's.

"He was gravely injured."

Krad dropped his own challenging star, dropped Satoshi's hand and brought his finger up to his lips. "Ah. Killing a wolf that is already injured is an honor-less kill. You should trust your own instincts more." Satoshi relaxed and Krad patted his shoulder, his heavy hand turning him around and he watched as Satoshi walked back up the stairs. Then he went to bed himself, yanking on Risa's recently reinforced door to make sure it was locked. It was. He snorted and let his hand slip off the handle.

**_~ So you remembered. Have you learned your lesson?~ _**

* * *

The next day Dark woke up at the crack of dawn to pack his truck full of all his horse supplies, and after a quick check-in on Daisuke he went back to work.

It wasn't like he wanted to impress the blonde or anything – in fact, he had his mind set on the new set of formulas the Hikari undoubtedly had concocted since the last time he'd cleared their lab out. It was a little worrying; it looked like they were really on to something this time. He guessed Krad probably just tried them on himself in tiny doses, because out of all of the Hikaris, his curse was the 'worst'. However, he couldn't help but chuckle just thinking about it, and the best part of it was the Hikari had invited him over himself! As he passed by Riku's room he nearly jumped as she suddenly said, "Dark? Could you do me a favor please?"

He hesitated, remembering that moment of fierce animal attraction between them. "As long as it doesn't involve unlocking your door, than yeah." She flushed from on the other side.

"Of course not! I'm not a pervert like you. Just…" He could tell she died a little on the inside as she asked, "Could you come and sit by my door?" It was such an odd request that he wasn't sure how to respond.

"Well alright, I have school in half an hour though. You coming to school?" He stretched out at the bottom of her door, one leg straight and one bent with one arm resting on the bent leg. She gave a quick "no" and took in a few breaths of his alpha scent, and both she and her wolf relaxed.

"Thanks," she said, relieved.

He nodded, though she couldn't see the movement. She crossed her arms around her folded knees. "You're lucky you don't have to go through this." Dark snorted, "You're lucky your guy friends don't tease you about getting pissy once a month. And sorry to bust your bubble, but we do. Every time a hot chick walks by." She frowned and her wolf growled through her teeth.

"You know what I mean."

He ran a hand over the shell of his ear. "Yeah, well, you get to carry the pups. Feelin' 'em move around and all. That's something." She was quiet for so long he wondered if he had offended her somehow.

"I can honestly say I never expected you to say that," she said in surprise. His lips drew together in irritation.

"I do have a brain, you know."

Riku pretended to think about it. "Hmm…"

He stood up. "I don't need this kind of abuse." His adopted sister barked, "Hey!" and as he waited she merely said, "Um, okay…thank you."

Dark sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Sure thing. Goodbye, then."

**

* * *

**

Krad took every precaution to ensure that Souen wouldn't be completely smothered in wolf scent, but as he drove down the road she felt compelled to point out,

"You know that these seats…and the air in here…and the knob when I get out are covered in werewolf scent, right?" His canines lengthened as he snarled,

"Well why don't you just tell your dad Alena's cousin is a werewolf? I'll probably walk you to the door anyway…"

She stared at him in horror.

"No, absolutely not! He'll recognize your scent and probably go jaguar right there." She shivered and reached her hands out to the feeble heat flowing from the vents.

"I apologize," he said sincerely, as his blonde lashes caught the light of the sun and turned white. "My police cruiser has much better heating but I figured we were trying to be discreet."

The tires crunched and skidded through the snow.

"It's fine." She watched as his knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. "What? What is it?"

He swallowed and wiped a little drool that had accumulated from the corner of his mouth and explained, "Caribou. Four of them; three females and one male." He indicated with a flick of his eyes their direction. Souen spotted them after a minute and admitted, "I didn't even see them." They were four whitish-gray splotches on a grayish-blue background.

"Hold on a moment. You had an enormous breakfast this morning." Krad fetched a plastic hand warmer from the glove compartment and handed it to her and his lips curled in amusement. "A certain part of me prefers 'breakfast on the run', if you'll excuse me being so vulgar."

Her eyes widened and she had to cover her mouth as a series of giggles escaped. Krad raised an eyebrow.

"T-turn left here. Sorry, it's just-" she rubbed her hands with the warmer, then continued, "-sometimes you end up saying things so seriously. It's funny." The blonde turned the car and a blush dusted his cheeks – he wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. He'd never considered himself to be a funny person. "Why do you have a Japanese name?" he asked instead.

"I'm adopted. Our group needed more females and my foster dad thought I would be perfect for one of my cousins or brothers." Her words held a tint of bitterness so Krad decided not to press the subject.

"I'm sorry you feel…that is your duty."

She pointed right and murmured, "It's okay… I just had things I wanted to do in my life, not start a family right away."

Krad glanced down. He hated that tone of defeat in her voice.

She filled the sudden silence with, "Slow down. My house is the third one up – just there." It was a large house designed to accommodate a large family and was conveniently located next to a farmland that faded off into tundra. "A nice home," the blonde commented as he pulled up and stopped. But as she got out he hesitated.

"Wait, what are you doing?" He came around to help her down and she flushed.

"I can…"

He interrupted her with a solid, "There is no way you're getting from here to the front door in one piece."

Her eyes narrowed.

"We may not have as great of noses as you, but my father will recognize you're wolf." Krad shrugged and offered his hand as she struggled down from the vehicle.

"So be it. It's not like we're going to see each other again." _~Unless your brothers keep encroaching on my territory.~_

Her face slackened as she took his hand, letting him support her to the front door; Risa's too-small-boots still on her feet. Krad had insisted she keep them – Risa hated them anyway.

As soon as he rang the doorbell it opened and Souen's father glanced out, saw his daughter and literally picked her up off her feet in a tight hug. "Souen, you little-" He seemed torn between rage and relief, and Krad stood awkwardly as the two of them hugged and apologized, their bond thick in the air. When he caught Krad's scent it was almost audible. He put Souen down, took a step to him and met the blonde's blue contact lensed eyes. A flicker of orange betrayed the jaguar and Krad's wolf flashed his own eyes yellow behind the covering lenses in recognition.

"So you're one of Alena's cousins?" His words were friendly, but his mind was processing Krad's scent and in a few moments he would probably recognize him, too.

Krad had caught Souen's father's scent before. "Yes. I'm glad she's safe now." He paused. "Well, goodbye then." Krad nodded to both of them and turned. His hackles rose and the hair on the back of his neck prickled under her father's stare, but he refused to let his wolf free, even though turning his back felt wrong.

Krad got back in his Ford, filled his nose with her lingering scent, and drove away.

Review please!


	8. Chapter 8

Dark sighed and tapped his pencil impatiently on his desk, barely listening to his teacher lecture. He was thinking about the last brew the damn Hikari had whipped up. The main ingredient had been wolfsbane, along with sage and a few other things, and as he'd brought it back, the smell had knocked the wolf out of his head for nearly two days. Which wasn't good. Dark's alpha looked outside, saw the fat, gray squirrels in the school yard and whined longingly. The thief snorted and ran his tongue over his teeth. What the recent potion meant was he was actually making progress. A girl passed him and he discreetly covered his nose – her perfume was so strong it nearly paralyzed the wolf. Quite frankly he didn't like it much either. He glanced at the back wall, where he knew Risa sat in the adjoining classroom and grinned slightly. Other than a slight coating of shampoo and deodorant, she wore her scent proudly. It was one of the many things he liked about her. Although lately, he'd been avoiding her a little merely because she was in heat, and well, he probably wouldn't be able to help himself if…

"Dark!" His teacher barked and he turned, leaning back to let the sunlight catch his hair. "Yeah?"

"Give me three descriptive verbs."

He snorted. "M'kay, how about…long, wet and hard?" Everyone who had turned to face him, including most of the girls, promptly burst out laughing and Dark gave a high-five to his classmate under the table as the teacher struggled to regain order.

Krad adjusted the collar of his police uniform and proceeded into then dairy aisle. He didn't like going out in public in uniform but Satoshi had called him to report that they were out of bread, buttermilk and meat. So of course he had to come. He guessed that their pack alone, small as they were, ate up to four hundred dollars a month in groceries. The blonde had already gathered the other items and had assumed that the meat would be back here, but… He glanced around and narrowed his eyes, then- 'Pork and Poultry'. He abandoned his cart momentarily and rounded the corner with wolfish speed, "Aha- Oof!" and collided with another shopper.

"Sorry!" He gathered himself up and offered the blonde woman he'd hit his hand. "I must have gotten overex…" As their eyes met, false brown lens to false blue; both containing the same yellow underneath, his wolf barked. She smiled and stood, and he felt the strong sinew underneath the delicate-looking skin. Something about her smell and her mannerisms - struck a chord in his heart and he realized what it was. "…ited." This woman had his face.

"It's fine. In fact, I think they are having a sale on hickory-smoked bacon." She picked up her basket, then studied him and smiled. He started, and as she watched him, she seemed to recognize him and her face filled with light. "Hickory-smoked?" His wolf purred through Krad's teeth and she chirped, "Oh yes." Then she joked, "I don't think a frail, old lady like myself came make it there without an escorted though…" Krad's wolf snorted and suddenly he was himself again.

"Well, it's my duty then, isn't it?" He looped an arm through hers and after their shopping was over, followed her to her home at her request. It wasn't like he didn't know who she was at this point – it was simply that his brain refused to accept it. His mother was Rio Hikari and he wanted to know why this woman…looked like what could pass as an older twin sister.

Her house was one level, modest and charming, and of course, bordered a wildlife reserve that mutated into the wild itself. He settled into her couch, took the tea that she offered thankfully and as she straightened her dress asked, "Why is it that you have my face?" She swallowed her own tea as her eyes met his, their wolves peering out at each other. Krad's whined and paced in his mind as she said softly, "You don't know?" He glanced away and one of the pictures on the mantle caught his eye.

"May I?"

She nodded and as he sat down he recognized the other woman in the picture. "I'm sorry – I don't think you've given me your name yet," he said, as his mind worked furiously for an explanation.

"I haven't. It's Ruka Tsusaki. Rio Hikari was my best friend." Ruka gave off an aura of steel,but the picture she was holding a tiny blonde-haired, blue-eyed infant and seemed so happy it was hard to imagine the woman across from him as the same person."She's the only one I would have ever trusted with you."

Ah, so that was him, then.

~**_Wait, trusted with…?~_**

" I am Rio Hikari's son." A slight lilt betrayed his hesitation. "No, you're mine. Rio only had one son. And she died bringing him into the world."

He stared at her. "This is why you- ...What proof do you have-...?"

"More pictures. Your birth certificate, social security number, immunizations, and ultrasounds. And, I know you have a pair of white wings folded just underneath that uniform." He got quiet and absorbed that fact as she took him in – as if he were going to disappear. "I've really…missed you so much." It was actually a whisper and since he didn't know how to respond he murmured, "Why are you telling me this now?" Ruka finished her tea and looked down.

"I'm being deported. I tried calling you earlier, but when I saw you in the store I figured now was better than never." Krad's watch beeped and flashed orange and he automatically turned the alarm off. "I forgot I have a meeting with that idiot…"

"Idiot?"

Krad shook his head. "Yes, but…just one more thing." He stood and set the frame back on the mantle and said in a child's voice, "Why did you…leave me?" She caught her breath as pain shot across her face. Krad instantly felt guilty.

He walked over to her. "My wolf didn't like Kei from the beginning and when I had you, you smelled just like him and she…" She began to shake, and without a thought he went and held her. He was surprised at how short she was. "I'm sorry. My words were cruel. I'm sorry…Mother." He rested his chin in her hair and realized he recognized her smell, and her voice. It scared him. He lifted his wings out of the uniform and surrounded her with them; loosely just in case she reacted negatively.

She ran one hand over the long, flexible appendage and smiled. "It almost looks like you can…"

"Fly with them? I can." He let her hold them for a moment longer, than folded them back underneath his clothes. As usual, they left no tears in the fabric.

"Ruka, could I get your number please? I'd like very much to talk more with you later." Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, alright." She wrote it on a little piece of paper and after a quick exchange of goodbyes and another hug, he drove off with the distinct feeling this was all a dream. As he pulled into his driveway and saw the rusted, weather beaten hide of what was a van at one point, he revised his theory – this was a nightmare. Dark waved at him enthusiastically as he stood on the porch in 'form-fitting' jacket and pants.

"I noticed you updated your security system! A motion-activated sensor on the exterior with-"

"I don't need you to voice recent updates on my home security systems, thank you," he snarled, his hackles rising as he locked his car and motioned for him to come around the side of the house. "On second thought, bring the van. It's about a mile and a half to her stall." Dark drove up beside him a moment later. "Why aren't you taking your car?" Krad shoved his hands in his pockets. "I've been driving all day, and unlike you, pride myself in being in top physical condition."

Dark feigned offense. "If by 'top condition' you meant 'about to faint', then good for you." He shrugged, and as he pulled ahead thick mud splashed up onto Krad's uniform, and he growled. When he arrived Dark was waiting patiently by the metal gate with his equipment in both hands. The blonde opened the gate and pushed him inside.

"She'll be here in a minute so get ready."

Dark put his supplies on the ground and admired the treated wooden stall. It was obvious someone had made it from scratch because it had siding and even a two-piece that let into the straw stall. "Ready for what?" Midnight came over the hill full speed and put on the brakes a few feet in front of Krad, sliding to a stop. "Woah!" She stared him down and he stared right back until she noticed Dark."Is she friendly?" He asked as the sleek animal approached and Krad muttered, "About as much as a cornered wolverine." Her head snapped out. Dark flinched and Krad grinned…at least until he noticed her nuzzling his purple locks with her soft nose contentedly.

"The Hell, Krad, you're such a liar..." The Hikari watched in amazement as he reached up and rubbed her flat face, muttering, "Just ignore the mean, little boy…what was her name again?"

"Midnight," Krad said dully and watched as Dark guided her into the stall, no bridle required, and began to clean out her feet. He knew his mouth was open so he reached out tentatively, and her lip curled discreetly. ~**_Ah, I see how it is.~ _**He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"So how long does this usually take?"

"It depends. I'm guessing about an hour with her, maybe an hour and a half at most." The thief sighed and moved to one of her back feet. "Lucky bastard. Our horse always bites and kicks…he likes Daisuke a bit but-"

"How fascinating," Krad snarled, "but as much as I'd like to be lectured on the inner-relationships of your family, I think my digits are falling off, so I'm going to get my jacket." He turned on his heel.

"Ah, that's right. I forgot you don't know how to socialize with others."

Krad rubbed his hands together and great puffs issued from his nose and mouth. "Not true. I just don't make a habit to socialize with people who habitually break into my house."

"I-"

Before he could say another word the blonde had disappeared down the dusky path. Dark wiped his forehead, issued a clipped swear word and grabbed one of his tools to wrench off Midnight's iron shoes.

Souen tapped on her brother's door, sighed and walked in. "I know you're awake Boris so…" She paused and put the tray down on his dresser. There was a human-shaped lump in the bed but she didn't hear his breath. Yanking the blue sheets off she found creatively-shaped pillows and a set of clothes that had up until a half hour ago, been occupied. They were still warm. She picked up the shed gauze and remembered what he'd told her.

_"I'm going to get the white pelted bastard that did this to me." _

She'd tried to reason with him, but since she was angry, too, none too hard. She dropped the cloth, opened the first-story window and slipped out of her human clothing and form, her strong haunches propelling her out the window. ~You dont even have half your strength yet!~

* * *

Satoshi heard the cruiser roll up and rocked back and forth on his heels excitedly. He'd been craving bacon all day. But just as Krad went around the trunk he noticed something by the front door and his brother started talking to it. Satoshi removed his fingers from the blinds in his room and headed downstairs, but by the time he opened the front door Krad was already gone. He put on a pair of boots and ran his hand along the curve of the cruiser. Good thing he knew where the spare key was. As he reached up under the frost-coated fender, his wolf growled and he turned around, his eyes scanning their few acres of front yard. There was nowhere to hide here except a few low bushes about thirty paces to his right. He waited, although he didn't see anything but snow and shadows. He turned back to the car.

There was a rustle, audible this time. Satoshi turned back and let out a low growl that strained his human vocal cords. Occasionally real wolves wandered into their territory, but they never hid like this. They usually either approached or left quickly. From the bushes a pair of disease orange eyes opened and he heard a yowling, "Raaauuuu…." like the initiation of a cat fight. It was a few days after the full moon so it would be harder for the Hikari to transform.

"Get off our territory, please. We already settled this." He recognized the scent now as the same jaguar that had attacked Daisuke. Instead of replying, a shadow detached itself from the bushes and its tongue curled like a slab of red meat as he hissed a challenge. Satoshi teetered on the edge of transforming before his wolf made the decision for him and his body tore and ripped out of his clothing. The jaguar didn't wait for him to finish and lunged. The blunette barely had time to dodge as the cat flew past him and his jaws closed with a metallic click. He wasn't even aware of the noise that escaped his black lips as his enemy turned, scrabbling in the snow and jumping onto his shoulders. He dragged hooked daggers down Satoshi's back and the wolf howled, then reared and slammed his spine into the bumper of Krad's police cruiser again and again, until he heard an animal's screech and the nails left his skin. Just before he dived under the body of the car he saw the bumper was dented and stained red. He laid underneath and panted, tongue lolling out and shoulders burning with his belly pressed to the compacted, gray snow.

~_He's gone off the deep end. I let him go before so why…?~ _Something slashed at his flank and he yelped and drew up close to the tire. ~_If I stay under here he'll turn me into ribbons.~ _His yellow eyes, surrounded with gray rings, glowed in the fading light. ~_No. Next time, I'll grab his paw. I'll wait.~ _

As he did, everything turned silent, until the only sounds were the flex of his ribs and the hammer of his heat in his throat. ~_Any minute now…~_

He uncovered his teeth and realized that a long snarl was escaping from his mouth. His ears were so flat he didn't appear to have any, and the fur around his collar made a frost-tipped frame for his red mouth. ~_Come on.~ _Just as he caught a whiff of his brother's scent the paw snapped underneath, but he whipped around.

_CHOMP!_

"Maoou!" Boris screeched, so preoccupied with his pursuit that he hadn't noticed the other wolf until it was literally on top of him. "_GRAAH_!" Krad caught him by the black scruff of his neck and flung him with a twist of his jaws onto the ground, but as he did Boris scored his chest with both paws. As he did a tiny pop was heard but Krad ignored it and dove under the truck to touch noses with Satoshi.**_ ~Are you all right?~_** Satoshi whined and pushed his muzzle underneath Krad's chin. ~_I am, but…~ _The wolf with the gold dorsal stripe pulled himself out from underneath the car. ~**_I'll take care of him.~ _**

Krad trotted over to the big cat, the surrounding snow littered with increasingly generous splashes of blood. Satoshi barked. ~_That's not what I meant, um…Krad?~ _His brother nudged the motionless Boris with irritation. ~**_Get up. You're not fooling anyone and I'm not through with you.~ _**He left a paw on the jaguars ribcage. Nothing beat there.The world dimmed strangely in front of his vision and he left his paw where it rested. He picked his paw up just as an emerald-eyed jaguar sprinted up to him, ears flattened and she screamed, ~DON'T touch him!~ Souen put her own delicate paw on her brother's neck and waited to feel that pulse of life. Satoshi crawled out from underneath the car and went up to his brother. ~**_I…I didn't…~ _**Golden eyes rolled back in his head and with another red gush from his wounds, his legs gave out and he collapsed into the snow. ~_KRAD!~ _The blonde began to morph back, a sign that he was truly close to death.

Satoshi changed into his second form slowly and kept his eyes on the she-jaguar, but she seemed numb, her silver-spotted paw still resting on Boris' body.

~He's…Boris…~ Krad was fully human now, strips of muscle showing hideously in his chest and Satoshi gathered him in his furred arms. He stood and felt her paw on his ankle, tight and painful. ~Can I come with you? I want to…help him.~

"What? Why? He just killed your brother!"

~And my brother just tried to kill both of you. Please. If I can't do_ something _I just might lose it.~ Her paw trembled and he consented, allowing her to follow him into their kitchen. Once inside he wrapped Krad's waist with a towel, then gave Souen some antiseptic/disinfectant and went to get some padding and gauze. He hastily wrapped his own wounds in the other room and Souen sprayed Krad's wounds in a daze. She couldn't believe this had happened. He was just gone, and…how was she going to get him home? He really had wanted to...to kill the littler wolf. She'd seen it in his eyes. But the white wolf hadn't been trying to kill him, and even the brother seemed to have snapped his neck by mistake…

It was Boris who had attacked first. Was it possible he was lying about before? When Satoshi returned, human and fully clothed, and holding a blanket, she morphed into her second form and asked, "Wolf, when you attacked my brother before, did you start the fight?" The blunette draped a blanket around Krad's shoulders, then began wrapping his chest in gauze."I found him attacking a pup of a werewolf, so I interfered. Why?" He took in her second form curiously. It was just like theirs, but with a cats head, tail and claws. Her legs had human knees but her ankles were at an angle and she stood on the pads of her toes.

"No reason." She should have been outside beside her brother cursing these two but…now, she felt like she didn't really know him. The excitement in his eyes as he'd slashed at them had shaken her to her core. Satoshi tied off the last section of gauze and picked Krad up underneath his knees, and his brother's head lolled against his neck. Souen gasped and he looked at her curiously. "Wha..? Oh. We're all stronger than regular humans so…" He trailed off. "Do you need any help with your brother?"

"No. No, I'll just…take him home." She took a deep breath. "I-Is Krad going to be okay?"

Satoshi nodded. "I just need to cuddle up with him for a while. We're kind of like…have you heard the story of the little boy who they thought was dead but after his mother held him for an hour he came back to life? We're like that with our pack members." As if on queue one of Krad's hands tightened around Satoshi's shirt.

"See. He's gonna be fine." He nodded again and as she left, he let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't noticed the two lazily-folded wings blooming from Krad's back after all. He carried his brother to Krad's room, locked the door in case Risa got loose again, and cradled his brother's head to his chest.

In reality he was uncomfortable like this. He had no idea why he was afraid of him, because his wolf hadn't made any moves against him but…

Krad sighed and his arms wrapped loosely around his waist, then tightly. "…Cold…" It wasn't even a whisper, but Satoshi threw the covers up over his shoulders and after a moment his grip loosened again. ~_Idiot you shouldn't have done that. I would have been fine, you overprotective…~ _He sighed, but the words had held affection. Soon he went downstairs, left a check in Dark's van, and crawled back into Krad's bed a minute later. The blonde was obviously still out of it because he gripped him protectively and laid his head right on the boy's sternum.

He watched Krad's eyes flick around under his eyelids and quite accidentally, fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Note- A frog in 'horse lingo' is the inside part of the hoof, and a gelding is a castrated male horse. Just for clarification. o/o

* * *

Daisuke walked through the halls of the school timidly, as he always did, but with a bit of a hunch. His wounds still ached, but they had almost completely healed now.

His mother had come up with a legitimate excuse for his scars, and so with a note excusing him from P.E. and Dark by his side he reentered the school.

"Do you think anyone will notice?" he asked while adjusting his backpack. Dark snorted and grinned at a pack of good-looking cheerleaders near their lockers. They didn't squeal but from here Daisuke could see them twirling their hair and flushing.

"Nah. Just don't stand up too fast." They came to the corner of two hallways and he ruffled Daisuke's red hair."Alrighty, see ya later, Dai." Just as he was walking off he turned around. "Hey, you want to go out on a run with me on Saturday?" To the passerby it meant a jog, but between them it meant a long trip in another form entirely.

"Y-yeah!"

Dark smirked and headed off to his next class, too busy to notice a certain brunette he'd been avoiding until it was too late. "Oh! Sorry…Risa."

* * *

Satoshi flitted in and out of strange, exhilarating dreams until a gust of hot air from his brother's nose gusted across the skin of his neck. He went into panic mode and shoved the person away, not realizing it was Krad until after he was already awake. Or at least, the blonde's wolf was. The Hikari usually avoided Krad when he turned wolf, but he was injured badly, and Satoshi needed to change his bandages again. Yellow and black eyes stared mildly at him and Krad's alpha curled up.

"Hi there," the blunette ventured, shaken a little by the thought that the wolf probably had been sleeping peacefully in his arms for the last few hours.

"Hello," the wolf replied and winced as the pain in the human body hit him. "Why are you afraid of me?"

Blue eyes dropped away.

"I'm not."

The wolf tapped Krad's nose. "Even in this form I can smell fear."

"Because…" Satoshi shook his head. "Listen, I have to change your bandages now, and it will hurt, so…"

The alpha frowned. "I won't bite. I have a high threshold for pain."

Satoshi slid out of bed. "So I've gathered." He collected all the first-aid items off the dresser and got back onto the mattress, placing them in a neat row in front of Krad. He paused again. "Um, I'm going to have to ask you to sit up." Krad nodded and sat up, but yelped as a fresh line of blood colored his bandages. "Slowly! Slowly…" his brother said in alarm, guiding him the rest of the way into a sitting position. Once there Satoshi shakily untied the knot in the gauze and began unwrapping. Every time his fingers touched Krad's warm, peach-fuzz skin they jerked back as if he'd been electrocuted.

The animal in Krad's head watched impassively and wondered why his pack mate was so obviously afraid of him. He hadn't given him any reason to be.

Satoshi discarded the old bandages and began anew, just under the blonde's sternum, noting how quickly his wounds were healing. ~_Krad might not have any scarring-~ _He began and cut off abruptly as Krad's hand bushed against his temple.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" Satoshi barked, jerking his head away and the alpha snapped his hand back in surprise.

"I… wanted to touch your hair." Krad's eyes were wide, like great pools. "It's an unusual color."

Satoshi narrowed a single eye for a moment. "Um…okay." The wolf examined a strand for a moment, then smiled a little and patted Satoshi's head before letting his hand go slack against the sheets.

"About what you were saying before, about the fear... I guess it's because you're not human. I can understand you on a basic level. But things like morals don't really matter."

"Morals?" The wolf imitated curiously. They sounded familiar.

"Yes." Satoshi put extra padding underneath a particularly bad scratch. "When you killed Boris, you knew he had a family and a sister but…"

Krad's chest vibrated like an engine as he growled.

"He was going to kill you."

"You don't know that."

Golden eyes flashed. "I do. I could see it…smell it…" His lips tinted black for a moment as he swayed towards wolf form, then returned to normal as he put a hand on Satoshi's shoulder. "I don't care about him. It was his decision to attack you and you're…my brother. I will protect you. Even if others have to die. Those _are_ my morals."

The blunette tied the last piece of gauze and sighed, then indicated for the blonde to lie back down.

"I wish you weren't scared of me," he continued, as the blunette cleared all the items off the bed and laid down about a foot from him.

"You could rectify that by trying harder not to kill people." The wolf closed Krad's eyes slowly and pulled the blankets over his shoulders. "That was an accident." Satoshi wondered why he sounded so sincere and reached out towards the wolf.

"Give me your head."

Yellow eyes opened.

"What?"

The blunette flushed despite himself. " To help with the healing. You have to stay close to me, remember?" Instead of letting Satoshi choose their proximity, the alpha scooted closer and laid his head on the blunette's chest.

"I suppose it was silly to think you'd want to comfort me."

Satoshi frowned and, timidly, put a hand on top of his blonde fluff and settled his arm just above the wing joints.

"I want my brother to get better. I just…don't really know what to think about you."

The alpha snorted. "But we are brothers, too. Or at least-" He nuzzled into the boys chest and Satoshi blushed again and felt Krad's body relax. "-the wolf that sleeps in here is." His wings shuddered, then spread halfway out onto the mattress, one of them slipping off the edge and onto the floor.

"You-"

The alpha interrupted with a smirk, "You still smell just like your mother…" and was asleep before the blunette had a chance to retaliate.

~_Wait, my mother? Why didn't he say "our mother"?~ _Satoshi closed his own eyes, more out of boredom and tiredness than anything. ~_He must have been mistaken.~_

* * *

They both stood awkwardly for a few moments as people milled around them. Dark finally coughed and cleared his throat. "Well, long time no see…" Her eyes narrowed angrily.

"And that's mostly your fault."

He crossed his arms. "Yeah, but it's a good idea right now, if you catch my meaning."

Risa glanced down, embarrassed that his smell was already waking up the wolf in her. "But that... I'm in complete control of that!"

Dark grinned and stepped closer to her. "Oh, really?" Somehow his tan hand cupped her cheek and trailed, one rough pad at a time, down the side of her neck. She positively melted and, for a second, the whites of her eyes were swallowed by her wolf's eyes.A little whine escaped from her mouth. He took his hand away.

"See?"

She shook for a moment, then whispered, "Don't you… Do you even feel attracted to _me_ at all!" She turned around and almost ran to get to her class.

"Ri-Risa, wait!" ~**If you'da been paying attention, you would have noticed the way my hand shook!~ **

He caught her just before her classroom door and brought her aside, just as the last bell rang.

"Let go of…"

Without thinking he wrapped her into his arms and muttered, "Of course I do. Risa I…" he trailed off as he realized she was right there, in his arms, and that they were very much alone. Her smell…was so nice, and even as he took it in he could feel himself begin to slip. His arms loosened and she looked up at him with round, innocent doe eyes.

"Dark?"

The faintest idea had formed and after she said his name it became an irreversible desire, practically a commandment. But that tiny voice of reason screamed, _And what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?_ He ignored it, and with a tilt of his head, closed the gap between their lips. She tasted sweet but a little salty, too, like…kettle corn.

Then he felt her little hands dig into the leather fabric of his jacket as she leaned in…and realized just what he was doing. He broke the kiss swiftly and stared at her, panting for a moment, with purple hair in his eyes. What unnerved him the most was a part of him hadn't wanted to stop at all. Even the beat of his heart seemed to be encouraging him with its constant rhythm of _m-ore. _And he still wanted her here.

Now. …No.

No!

He turned tail and ran like the fool he felt like, and she stood, watching him. Risa waited until her wolf relaxed, gathered herself, touched her lips, and returned to her class.

* * *

Finally the weekend arrived and Dark, while attempting to blot out his tangled feelings, snuck down the hallway towards Daisuke's room. The redhead had slept in, and Emiko had given him the task of waking his brother up, which he intended to do in the most creative way possible.

Getting in the door was a piece of cake. As it clicked shut with a silent snick, he slunk over to the side of the redhead's bed. He slept like he usually did, with his arms flung out in opposite directions and his shirt all pulled up, leaving his belly all exposed. Seeing that skin gave him an idea. He paused, drew in a deep breath, put his lips against Dai's belly and…

PLLLPPPHHH...!

Blew a long, wet raspberry.

"AAAAHH! Dark! Dammit!"

"Gotcha!" Dark sang, slinging Daisuke over one shoulder like a sack of meal. Still half asleep, he began pounding his fists into his brothers back.

"Nuh! Lemme go! Big, stupid, purple poodle-" He writhed and kicked as Dark walked down the hallway and the older brother found, to his surprise, it was almost hard to hold on to him.

"Alright, already." He laughed as he set the redhead down, ruffling up his already mussed hair. "You're finally catching up. Holding onto you's like tryin' to hold on to an eel."

Daisuke attempted to fix his hair, and glared for a moment, but Dark could tell from the slight blush on his face he was pleased. To their surprise Riku was at the table with Kosuke and Emiko, looking tired but otherwise well.

"Hey, Riku!" the thief called, which she ignored, instead greeting Daisuke with a smile.

"Hi, Daisuke. I haven't seen you in almost a month, how are you? Are your wounds better?"

Daisuke grinned back. "Um, yeah. I feel much better. Thanks." Dark slammed down into his seat with a grunt and helped himself to the eggs, ham and rice.

"Coulda at least said hello. I can't believe how rude-"

Riku took the pork bun from her plate and put it on his. "So who was rude?"

Dark's pupils widened as he stared at the offering, then he began tearing into the bun. "Uh, nobody!"

While he was busy wolfing down the food Emiko said, "Oh, Daisuke, sweetie, it's your turn to go and feed the- Um, Moonlight." The redhead groaned and Dark patted his shoulder sympathetically, choked momentarily on a piece of bacon, then announced, "Well I'm off." The front door closed before Daisuke had a chance to ask where he was going and Emiko explained, "Oh, you know, just out with a few of his friends." She sipped her tea. "I am a little worried, though, since tonight's the full moon…"

Shaking her head, she straightened her skirt and after breakfast, went to help Kosuke pick out new drapes. Daisuke put on a jacket, gloves, mittens and a scarf before going outside to feed their white stallion.

He took off a flake from the hay in their shed and the Arab trotted up to the fence with his tail held high. "Hey, Moonlight."His tone was defeated and the horse's nose flared as he stared at something in the distance. Daisuke noticed one of his legs lifted halfway up as the horse stood. He threw the flake over the fence, got the hoof pick from the shed and carefully entered the paddock. "Don't kick me, all right…?"

Moonlight watched as the little werewolf picked up his hoof and saw the source of his discomfort – a rock stuck just between his shoe and frog."Oh…" After about a minute the pebble finally dropped into his hand. As soon as it did, Moonlight jerked his hoof free and ran to the gate. In one swift move he grabbed the latch with his teeth, pulled it up and in, and began running.

"HEY! You can't...! You can't do that!"

Moonlight whinnied happily as Daisuke ran after him, still yelling. After a while his human legs began to tire and his wolf was pushing to take over, so he dropped to his knees in the snow. He'd ran at least two miles… No, four… The horse stopped and looked back at him.

"What are you…? Where are you going?" The redhead panted, and the stallion snorted in amusement before running off, his barrel-shaped body gleaming with sweat. "Not…fair…" Daisuke's wolf growled through his teeth and red eyes flashed to blue-gray before settling again. He didn't want to end up hurting their horse. ~Bad horse.~ his wolf remarked. ~Sneaky food escaped. My form, we catch in a second.~

Daisuke shook his head.

~Not until tonight.~

He waited until the hammering of his heart stopped before pulling himself to his feet.

* * *

Krad was taking a hot shower and being careful not to disturb his wounds. He had no scarring, but he could still feel the tears deep underneath the muscle. It had been a little embarrassing waking up in Satoshi's arms, but they'd quickly parted and neither of them had mentioned it afterward. Still, he had felt better waking up with someone than alone.

After stretching his wings he yawned and opened his window, casually glancing out at their grounds as he did so. There was Midnight, same as always but – Krad's eyes snapped open wide. Apparently his mare was being mounted by a very large white horse he didn't recognize.

"WHA-? Oh, no! Oh, _hell_ no!" He scrambled, shutting off the water, grabbing a towel, and jerked the glass door open whilst slipping in soap… **_~Oh, Screw it!~ _**He dropped the towel and somehow squeezed out of the window butt-naked, his wings flaring once he was free. But by the time his feet hit the dead grasses the deed was already done. Krad sighed and folded his wings one after the other in despair, close to his body. It was freezing, but his wings would keep his whole back side warm, at least for a little while. Midnight bared her teeth as she always did, but the white horse nickered softly and made his way over to Krad.

**_~Well, there's always a chance this could be a gelding…~ _**he thought hopefully and the horse stopped as Krad crouched down so he could see between the horse's back legs. It tilted its head and blinked. The blonde stood up with a sigh.

Nope. Definitely a stallion.

The testicles on the animal were nearly as large as plums. The white horse reached out apologetically with his nose and Krad rubbed it without thinking, looking on its ivory flanks for any brands. Then he saw a few letters in the animal's front hooves.

N-I-W-A.

He growled and the horse startled away from him, and then stared at him questioningly.

"Oh, sorry, sorry…" The stallion came back to him almost immediately and nuzzled against one of his wings. He led him back, and after putting a halter on him, tied him on one end of the paddock and put Midnight back in her stall. There was a gaping hole in the fence where the stallion had broken through, but right now the blonde needed to get back in the house before his digits fell off.

He went back in through the window, thanked the heavens that all their neighbors were at least five miles away, and dried off with a fluffy white towel. After slipping into a robe and grabbing a hot drink, he stewed in anger and humiliation near a chair by the window for a few moments. Then he picked up his cell phone.

Dark glanced down at the unknown number flashing on his cell phone and Takeshi pushed at him playfully. "Ooh, is it a girl? Is it Risa?" Keiji scooted up to him on the other side. "Yeah, it wasn't like we didn't see you two outside of her class together. Ah, to be young and in love!" He fluttered his eyelashes at the thief and Dark pushed them both away as he blushed. "That wasn't...! It wasn't…! Oh get outta my way," he snarled and went to the only safe place in Takeshi's house (the bathroom) then slammed the door shut. "Hello?"

There was a pause.

"Dark, please come and pick up your wayward animal as soon as possible." Through the door he could hear Takeshi and Keji laughing. "Wait... You found Moonlight?" He was perplexed – Emiko had only called him an hour ago to tell him that the horse had escaped.

"Of course I did," Krad growled, and even through the phone Dark thought he caught a hint of embarrassment.

"But what was he doing over there?"

On the other end of the line Krad swallowed his drink. "Consequently, my mare."

Dark pushed the phone against his chest and laughed, then cleared his throat.

"Are you serious?" Dark's eyebrows drew together.

"Of course. She is in heat, so this may become…a problem."

**~Oh man…~ **

"I'll come and pick him up in about an hour."

Krad hung up and Dark flipped his phone shut, and ran a hand through his hair, then reluctantly opened the door.

"So? Who was it?" Keiji prodded.

Dark sighed and turned up the drama by placing a hand at his forehead. "Oh, boy. It was Risa. Apparently she's preggers."

Both Keiji and Takeshi almost went into conniptions, stared at each other and… Dark grinned. "I was kidding, guys."

* * *

So, did you all finally give up on me? Well too bad.

riinala19- well, here you go then. XD

Sneeze Powdered Moth- Sorry abou that- but I didn't like him very much. I will answer your questions on Souen later chapters. Thank you!

FF19-^^You really like fight scenes huh? Well I'll try to add more in. I'll get in a scene of Dark stealing from the Hikari's later too.

Sapphiet- yeah he should have, but it was a good way to demonstrate his perveted ness.

Inuyasha Freak- *snorts You should be.

Damaged Ghost of an Angel- Umm, still here? *sniffs pathetically


	10. Chapter 10

Souen overheard, as she passed by the kitchen, her father and two cousins planning revenge on the Hikari family. "It has to be tonight," one of her cousin's voice, Arseny's, carried over, "If we're lucky, that alpha will still be weak from Boris's attack. I'm guessing he didn't go down without a fight." His twin added, "I'll come with you. Boris may have underestimated the beta, but I won't."

Souen rounded the wall and stepped into the doorway, staring at her foster father. "Dad! I told you that they didn't kill him on... It was an accident!" Kira's fist tightened on the table. "Do you hear yourself, Souen? They murdered your brother, and that's all you have to say? I'm beginning to question your loyalty to this family."

"If you like them so much, you should just go sleep with the dogs, 'cause you obviously won't with me," Arseny sneered at her and she hissed back, "Only because you smell as alluring as dog sh-"

"Enough." Kira silenced both of them. "Souen, when spring comes you'll be paired with Arseny and bear him a litter, so I suggest you start on better terms. Arseny-"

Souen looked shocked. "You told me it was next spring, not this spring! I won't finish high school then!"

Kira stared at her impassively. "There has been a change of plan. Arseny, please tone down the cologne. " Foma nudged his twin. " Told you." Arseny shoved him away. "Ah shuddup."

"But father-"

"Souen, please go to your room and try to come to terms with this. I know it's not what you wanted, but it is what's best for our family. The little werewolf family will be destroyed, and by next year, if all goes well, you will be– "

She hissed at Arseny and her father, "Don't even say it!" and left, running down the hall and slamming her door. She didn't want to 'do her duty' – she wasn't an animal. She wanted to get her degree, meet her real parents in Japan someday…

_I'm sorry you feel forced into that position. _

Krad.

She flushed a little at the thought of him – his long strong arms, soft hair, and feral eyes. She felt more for him than Arseny, and she'd known her cousin for most of her life. And, she didn't want Krad to disappear.

~I'm going to warn them,~ she thought as she sat on her bed. ~I will! Then they can just stay in their home. I'm sure father doesn't know where they live.~ She didn't bother to set up a decoy; she just slipped out of her human form, clothes, and the window, heading into late afternoon.

* * *

"C'mon, Moonlight, get in the trailer!" Dark coaxed, but the animal stood about a foot from it and snorted. Krad watched them warily with his arms crossed. The thief pulled on the halter, brought out some oats, and even tried to push him in from the rear, but it was obvious that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "Augh! Fine. You leave me no choice." Dark went up to the cab and Moonlight watched jadedly, that is until Dark bought out a plush frog toy. Moonlights eyes widened and followed the green frog like magnets. "You want your squeaky? Well, go get it!" He chucked it in the front of the trailer and Moonlight ran after it, barely noticing as Dark closed the door behind the stallion. "Ha! Gotcha!" The white horse squeaked his toy contentedly and Krad muttered, "Okay, then…I'll call you in about two weeks if Midnight is…" Dark grinned as Krad fumbled around the word.

"Preggers? On stork watch? Knocked up? In a – "

"Silence! And yes."

Dark hopped back into his truck, "I'll be praying that she isn't!"

Krad snorted, "You and me both."

After the truck rolled out of his driveway, a shadow darted across his few front acres and he growled deeply, straining his human vocal chords.

It froze.

~It's me. P-please don't do that.~

Krad stopped. "Souen? I don't-"

She hugged the ground with her body and her eyes darted back and forth. ~I'm sorry, but I had to warn you: my father's planning on attacking your pack tonight.~

Her scent drifted over to him and he wanted to believe every word that came from her mouth. ~**_And how do I know that Kira didn't set you up to tell me this? You have to admit, you'd be the perfect candidate.~_** Before she could answer, Midnight bellowed a challenge so loud both of them jumped. She then leaned against the fence so hard the wood squealed, baring her teeth at Souen with her ears slicked back.

"You'd better go." ~**_Some were-jaguar must have teased her once and now she hates all of you. Also, there is a hole in the fence not far from here.~_**

Souen shot off into the dusk and Midnight stamped her foot. "You really hate them, don't you?" The horse looked at him in a way that clearly said, "Duh!" Krad added, "You'd better not have a bun in the oven. Kei's going to kill me." He could have sworn she grinned, then she nudged him in the shoulder playfully and trotted off with her tail in the air. He adjusted his coat and whispered, "Freakin' bipolar horse," before heading back inside.

* * *

Dark and Daisuke went outside to transform together while Riku left a little earlier to transform around one side of the house. The two brothers waited for the hour of their birth to roll around, and Dark watched as the change gripped Daisuke first. When Daisuke was finished, he watched Dark's transformation with a kind of sick fascination.

The older son shuddered to the ground, the hair at the nape of his neck stretched and grew down his spine, then spread left and right in a thick coat. The redhead winced at the sharp pops and snaps coming from Dark's legs and arms, then again as his spine jutted out into a long tail with a crack. Finally, his ribcage reformed, a muzzle sprouted, and the wolf kicked off the shorts and stared at Daisuke for a moment. He didn't see any human in that bright yellow. Then, something changed and a pink tongue lolled out of his mouth as Dark said happily, ~ **Ahh, gets better every time.~ **

He eyed Daisuke up and down. ~**Aww! What a cute puppy! Too bad he isn't prepared for…a surprise attack!~ **He put his rear in the air and dropped down on his front legs, then jumped.

~Hey!~

They scrapped around for a few moments, and eventually Dark smirked down at Daisuke. ~**Heh, pinned you.~ **

Daisuke struggled with his tail curled up to his belly, then froze as Riku rounded the corner. She was smaller and slighter than both of them, but sleek, with long legs, and a narrow muzzle.

~**Hey, Riku,~ **Dark said casually, and took his paws off Daisuke, who was busy staring at his adopted sister. Her coat was beautiful; darkest down her back and paws, and tawny on her belly, it seemed to encompass every pleasing shade of brown at once. The redhead rolled over and his wolf said, ~So pretty. You see now?~ Under his fur he was blushing deeply as she looked at him.

~H-hi, Riku!~ From behind he suddenly received a hard push, and his nose touched with Riku's. ~Ahh! Sorry!~ By now she was blushing, too, and her ears went down in embarrassment.

~DARK!~ The younger brother turned and barreled into Dark.

"Raaargkh!" Riku jumped on him as well. ~You're such a pervert! What the hell is wrong with you?~

They rolled around on the frozen ground, a mass of nipping and barking until Dark detached himself from the pile. ~**Alright, enough. We've still got a job to do around here, remember?~ **

Daisuke shook snow out of his fur. ~We do?~

Both Dark and Riku grinned at him. ~**Border patrol**.~ The black wolf began to trot, and the two other wolves followed.

Daisuke felt his brother's haunch on his right, and his sister's flank on his left. His wolf asked, ~Together now, as a pack. Happy. Are you?~

~Race you to the east corner, Dai!~

He picked up the pace to keep up with them both, and was surprised at how fast they could run – it was certainly the closest thing to flying he'd ever felt. The snow scattered under their strong paws and was thrown up like sand. His breath came out in thin silver wisps, and as he took in every smell of the harsh tundra he answered, ~Very!~

**

* * *

**

"It does not matter why," Krad answered Satoshi evenly, watching as his brother's muscles twitched in preparation for his transformation later that night. They were both equally touchy and ill tempered the night of the full moon, and in about an hour, both of them would be in their wolf forms.

"If you must know, tonight we may be attacked by a few were-jaguars, but I received this information from a…questionable source, so–"

"Souen," Satoshi said, without batting an eyelash, but a trickle of sweat ran down his neck. "How could you think that it was anything but a lie? You…" he paused and looked straight at his brother – straight through him, it seemed to Krad, and then Satoshi grinned painfully. "Ha. You...your in _love_ with her, aren't you?"

"Of course not." Krad snapped back too quickly. He felt his heart race. It was stupid, ridiculous, insane… Him in love with that damn jaguar's daughter? Hah…

Perhaps Satoshi was still concerned about spending time alone with Risa. At any rate it was a great way to change the subject. "I know Risa's still unstable, but-"

"Unstable! She. Tore. Her. Door. Off!"

"You can stay in my room."

Satoshi turned away from him with his cheeks flushed in anger and his fists clenched. "I want to run, I've been cooped up in here for two months!"

Krad blinked and his light eyes seemed to darken. "Look at us," he murmured. "It is not even the witching hour, yet here we are baring our fangs at each other."

The blunette covered his teeth and unclenched his fists slowly. "I just…"

"This is why I search for a cure for this…affliction." Krad took a step forward and placed a light kiss in the haphazard part of his little brother's locks. "Please be patient. I should be able to get rid of them before the night is over." Satoshi fought internally for a few seconds.

~_Well, it's your fault if she rapes me…~ _He sighed as Krad dropped the key to his room into Satoshi's palm.

"How close are you?"

Krad raised one eyebrow. "To a cure?" He smiled vaguely and nudged his brother up the stairs. "Close enough that those Niwas should be worried."

After making sure that his brother and sister were both in their places, he stripped down to nothing but a pair of dark shorts and stepped out into the snow beyond their porch. His blood was already boiling, and as cool sweat dripped down his body, he glared up at the light of the moon, round and perfect as a pearl.

He hated their curse, not because of the wolf self that was welling within him even as he thought, but because it forced him to lose control. Every single time it was different, terrifying, and for him, extraordinarily painful. His brother and sister seemed to somehow…relax during their transformations, but he couldn't.

The clouds parted and revealed the moon. If one had been standing near the side of the house, they would hear sounds starting as that of a man in pain, until they morphed into a mixture of animal yelps, along with the sound of someone cracking branches over their thighs, and finally, whimpering before the silence.

The white wolf with a golden stripe walked out into the snow, his head erect and ears swiveling for any sign of danger. He didn't have to wait long. After a mile or two, he saw them. Since there was nowhere to hide in the tundra, they made their way to him, their dark coats shining in the milk-white powder around them. Their coats weren't silver-tinted like Souen's. One leaned more toward the color of blood, while the other had more of a dull amber sheen.

Krad's body locked up. The closer they came, the higher the hair down his spine rose.

~Looks like he's all by himself this time.~ The reddish one grinned, showing a row of needle thin, yellowed teeth. ~I ain't complaining.~ The other replied.

~**_Aren't you eloquent.~ _**Krad snarled as one of his black lips curled up in disgust.

So, Souen hadn't been lying after all, but why…?

~Ooh!~ The red one exclaimed, and the wolf realized that the two were parting to circle him slowly. ~He's got a mouth on him, doesn't he? But I guess we'll have to see if his bark is worse than his bite.~

Krad's lips were fully drawn back now, his tail standing high in the air, stiff with anger. **_~ I did not mean to kill that were-jaguar.~_**

Foma, the amber one, murmured, ~That isn't the point. He's dead, and we have our honor to fight for.~

The wolf's ears slicked back. ~**_I see. Unfortunately–~ _**Foma froze with surprise as the wolf broke their circle by soaring over his back. ~**_You will have to catch me first!~ _**

The two cousins screamed in anger and tore after him, their claws unsheathed. Running away was highly unconventional for Krad, and his wolf wasn't happy at all, but there was minimal chance that he could go against both of them and come out unscathed. Fortunately he had come up with a plan.

Only a half-mile from where he wanted to lead them he felt a muscle in his chest tear under his skin and his legs crumpled underneath him. He hit the ground hard and rolled, then slid almost a yard before coming to a stop. He knew nothing was broken and so he tried to scramble to his feet, but the impaired muscle screeched at him and only allowed for three functional legs. He held the injured paw up close to his body; the jaguars were closing in. ~**_So even in death you ensure my demise, Boris,~ _**he thought and hunkered down with the thought that if he took at least one of them with him, he'd be content.

**_~Satoshi, Risa, I–~ _**The wolf heard hoof beats, loud and bearing down on his exact location. As Arseny closed the distance between them, he realized just whose horse it was and grinned a grin of death. The smarter twin hit the brakes and stared as Arseny's path was cut off abruptly. Teeth as thick as ivory piano keys knocked the big cat sideways and dug deep into his shoulder. Even Krad found himself cowering as his horse pressed the jaguar into frozen dirt, blood bubbling just underneath her velvet lips as her eyes flashed white.

Arseny squealed and slashed at her long face, but she flicked her muscular neck and threw him high into the air. While she was occupied, Foma shot past her and ambushed Krad, which he had expected. Within seconds Foma had exposed his neck and Krad had wrapped his jaws around it.

~**_If you both persist, I will let her kill him.~ _**

One orange eye rolled to look at Arseny, then at the black mare raising her two front hooves in what looked to be a killing blow. ~Stop!~ Foma hissed, and his twin just managed to avoid her, but one paw got caught under her hoof. The amber jaguar in Krad's mouth hissed, ~This isn't fair!~ and Krad tightened his grip, letting him gasp for a moment before replying. ~**_Life isn't fair. Retreat now, I won't ask you again. You are nothing compared to Boris's father and…~ _**The smell of the creature revolted him, something strong underlying a smell of rot. ~…**_You disgust me.~ _**

As his jaw relaxed, Foma tore out of his grip, hissing and spitting like a badly-oiled engine. Both twins then turned tail and ran, and Midnight followed them for a good half-mile before calming down enough to return to her stall. The white wolf stood for a moment and looked at the elaborate red stains in the snow, then limped his way back to his front door. He knocked the handle a few times with his paw and pushed inside, then headed upstairs.

Once he arrived at his bedroom door he eyed it nervously – it was open a sliver, but didn't look as if it'd been forced. He flushed under his fur. **_~Maybe that wasn't a very good idea…~_** But since he didn't hear any noise, and could smell both his siblings inside, he slipped in. It was obvious that they weren't anywhere on the floor, which meant they were on….the bed. ~**_My sheets officially need to be washed…~ _**he thought as his head popped just above the mattress. Both of them were curled in opposite directions, their muzzles under their tails and their backs touching. Satoshi's coat was the exact opposite of Risa's; showy with its pearly white and soft bluish sheen, while hers was entirely for camouflage; soft chocolate and tawny browns. He could tell simply by scent that nothing had happened between them, or at least nothing more than the brush of their coats against each other. He padded over to where Satoshi lay and awakened him with a nudge to his neck.

~_Hn…Krad? What is it?~ _Satoshi yawned and his pinkish tongue curled up to his canines. ~_Risa's heat has worn off, by the way. I think it passes quicker if she is near either of us.~ _

Krad nodded. **_~The night is only half over, if you still wish to roam.~_**

The younger brother's ears drooped as he noticed Krad's front leg barely touching the carpet. ~_Are you okay? What happened?~ _His gray-yellow eyes locked onto four thin scratches on Krad's shoulder.

**_~Oh, that's nothing, it…~ _**

The wolf within Satoshi flooded him with instinct, and before he knew it, he was lapping at the wounds in slow, gentle strokes. ~_Always getting hurt. Never letting me help in fights.~ _the omega muttered, and Krad's ears flicked back in embarrassment.

**_~ I just…I'd rather be the one to…~ _**

Satoshi came back into control and closed his jaw with a snap. ~_Sorry. I'll just wake up Risa and you can rest here.~ _

**_~Satoshi–~ _**he regretted it the moment the idea had popped into his head, but…

…_no, you are my son…_

…_pictures, ultrasounds… _

No, he couldn't tell him. He couldn't tell them that they weren't truly brothers. It was his cross to bear, alone. The knowledge hurt him enough.

~_What?~ _

Gritting his teeth underneath white velvet lips, he answered softly, ~**_Nothing.~ _**He watched as his brother woke up his sister and, together, they trotted sleepily out of his room. Krad hauled himself up with his good arm and curled up, his rough black pads snagging on the soft fabric.

**_~Satoshi…I wish I was…a true brother, one who shares the same blood running through your veins.~_**

**_

* * *

_**

I know I haven't updated in a while but this chappie makes up for it right?*sniffle


	11. Chapter 11

As Dark reached the northwest corner of the Niwa territory he caught an unfamiliar scent and stopped, his brother and sister halting behind him. ~What is it, Dark?~ They caught on to a very faint smell, and beneath it, the smell of blood. ~**Stay here**.~ He began to trot off at a steady lope close to the ground. Daisuke protested, ~Why can't I come?~

~**Because I want you to take care of Riku.~ **

She snarled. ~I can take care of myself! Why– ~

The alpha's black lips parted a bit to reveal startling white teeth. ~**Do as I say!~ **The order rippled through both siblings and the redder wolf lowered his head. He'd never been ordered to do anything from Dark in his wolf form so he was completely unprepared for the sudden, automatic compliance of his wolf.

~You didn't have to order us.~ His voice was soft. Dark covered his teeth.

~**It's a rogue werewolf. I'll be back soon, or call you two over.~ **He trotted away and Daisuke stood next to his sister awkwardly as she bristled, thoroughly pissed at her inability to disobey Dark's orders. Time passed and they scratched clear a place to lay down, a single circle of dirt in the snow.

~Nn…Riku?~ he asked, little dots of snow resting on his red-gray coat as he shifted. She turned to him and curled her tail over her paws to keep them warm. He felt himself blush and for once thanked God that thick fur covered his face. Still his ears slicked back with uncertainty. ~Riku, um, I was wondering…~ Did he really want to do this? It was fine that they just remained adopted siblings, and if she didn't feel the same way... Didn't even think that she could… Things around the Niwa household would become much more awkward. He wondered if he should have prefaced this with 'Don't think this is weird, but…' or perhaps 'I know this is an odd thing to ask but…' Too late now.

~Daisuke?~ She snapped him out of his thoughts.

~I was wondering if… you could ever think of me, even a little bit… as more than an adopted brother?~ His nose was almost touching the snow and he closed his eyes to steel himself for the answer. Why had he brought this up? So stupid! Why would she feel that way about him, when there was Dark? But these feelings had started a while ago, when exactly he couldn't remember, but… He started to wonder what it'd be like to kiss her, and hold her and for her to be his…

~ Daisuke…~ Riku ventured, and he flinched.

~Y-yeah?~

She walked over and laid her body parallel to his, then dropped her head onto his two front legs. ~ I've been wondering the same thing about you. For...well, a while.~ For a moment he was stunned, then he placed his head between her shoulders and sighed with relief.

~R…Really?~ Riku nodded and after a moment, added, ~I think Emiko will be pretty happy about this…~ He snorted and agreed, and suddenly, for both of them, the night was a lot less cold.

Dark couldn't help his wolf from approaching the obviously wounded werewolf just a pace ahead stiffly, tail raised and ears down. The strange werewolf met his eyes impassively and remained where he was, slightly crouched down in the snow. His coat was dirty blonde, darkest on his paws and spine. A bright red trickle dripped from his nose and marked a path off into the white powder. His back right leg was bleeding just around the ankle and Dark caught a whiff of gunpowder. He could see the whites of the werewolf's blue eyes and knew he had to be careful. Dark guessed by the wild-eyed look that this was his first transformation. Still didn't explain those wounds though. **~Hey. What happened to you?~ **he ventured, and forced his alpha to relax. Whoever this was, he wasn't much of a threat and didn't seem to be trespassing on purpose. The dirty blonde blinked in surprise, ~You can talk…?~ then looked away and added, ~I… got shot.~ Dark circled him once.

He was about Daisuke's build, a beta, too, and his large paws told him he still had some growing to do. **~Your first time transforming, huh.~ **It wasn't a question, and Dark had the feeling if he left him to fend for himself, he wouldn't last until morning. In fact, he was lucky that Dark's pack had found him instead of the regular wolves, whose territory slightly overlapped here. They would have killed him. **~You want me to walk you home?~ **Aside from that, his sense of smell must be totally compromised by the wound – he hadn't noticed Dark until he had came well into view. The new wolf started at him with his mouth slightly open.

~My father, he saw me 'transform'…~ He licked black lips and finished, ~not sure if I have one to go to.~ A shudder ran through his snow-dusted fur. ~Qualia…~ Dark almost could sense Emiko's reaction as he said, **~Hey, you want to stay with us for tonight?~ **As the wolf shook his head the blood scattered in tiny drops. ~I don't want to be a burden– ~ Suddenly, he visibly staggered and would have fallen if Dark hadn't shoved him upright with a back shoulder. **~You sure about that?~ **Dark paused. **~ I could drive you home tomorrow.~ **The stray caught Dark's meaning and after hesitating he murmured, ~Just tonight.~

He began following Dark back to the other members of the Niwa pack, his back foot never touching the ground. **What's your name anyway? Mine's Dark.~ **A half grin showed on the dark blonde's muzzle.

~That's a weird name. Mine's Argentine.~ He licked some blood off his nose and Dark noticed a red welt on the werewolf's snout. Eventually they made it back to Daisuke and Riku, who trotted up to the newcomer curiously. Argentine tensed into a crouch, but relaxed a little as Dark introduced them as his brother and sister.

~So you're all werewolves? Did you just bite each other or…?~

The black alpha shook his head. **~We were born werewolves, but I'll explain later. We should get you to my mom first.~ **

~I've never heard of that.~ Argentine pondered and with a glance at Riku, added, ~Or a female werewolf for that matter.~ Her nose wrinkled, and she snapped rather coldly, ~Well, I guess you learn something new every day.~

Dark rolled his eyes, Daisuke remained silent, and they walked back to the Niwa home with a bit of tension in the air.

* * *

Krad opened his eyes. He was half curled in his bed, naked. It was almost sad, how used to that he was by now. Quickly he snatched up the covers that had been kicked down to the foot of his bed and covered himself, head included. Whenever he returned to his human form he always felt a bit like a meaty square of jello.

No fangs, claws, fur – it was a wonder the human species had survived at all. On his dresser, his beeper went off with a loud irritating jingle. He groped around for it, then grabbed it, pulling it into the cocoon he'd created. "Hello?" his voice came out raspy.

"Dammit, Krad, I've been trying to reach you since last night! Haven't I told you to keep your cell phone with you at all times?"

Krad stifled a yawn and winced as the wounds from yesterday sprang back into awareness. "And I recall telling you that inevitably, there will be times when I am not available."

The higher-ranking officer snarled, "Funny how those times always seen to coincide with the full moon. Just get your butt to the station. A man's son went missing and the son's girlfriend was found shot in the woods behind his house." Krad kept silent, mostly because he'd tried his hardest to be unavailable fairly regularly. Had all his absences been on the nights of the full moon? Had he gotten careless? He shook his head. These people wouldn't believe his condition unless they watched him transform themselves.

"I'll be there in an hour."

"You'd better be, blondie." Just as Krad was about to hang up, he added, "Because you keep my other officers in line."

Krad grinned a little. It was true; his coworkers were more scared of him than the lieutenant. Still, that pet name was annoying. "Bye." After lingering in heavenly warmth for a few more seconds he snatched some clothes out of his dresser and headed into the bathroom. He gave his face a quick once-over but, being blonde, he hadn't gotten much past the peach fuzz stage, so the razor remained where it was. As he reached for the comb he paused, then backed up slightly from the counter.

~**_Huh. When did that happen?~ _**He turned to one side with his hands on his narrow hips. Somehow he hadn't noticed the faint six-pack thing going on around his belly. **_~Some werewolf side-effect, no doubt.~ _**Still, he was slightly pleased. A least in those rare instances when he was outside naked, his neighbors weren't being scarred for life. **[Fire: Paused here because I ROTFLMAO-ed. Just thought you should know.]**

Or… perhaps they still were. Oh, well. He brushed his hair and hopped into the shower and was on the road fifteen minutes later with the delightful taste of bacon fresh in his mouth.

* * *

Just as the foursome reached the back door the rays of the morning sun peeked over the horizon and onto their furry hides. Riku managed to slip inside without any fuss at all. Daisuke and Dark on the other hand stayed behind as Argentine transformed back. Since Daisuke had only ever seen Dark transform he was totally unprepared for the tendon-snapping spectacle that bite-made members of his kind had to deal with. He almost threw up, and when the writhing mass had settled back into human form, it looked like Argentine might, too. His dark blonde hair was matted and clung to his neck, and his body was covered in sweat. With a single glance Dark told Daisuke to go to bed and the redhead frowned. He opened the back door and handed Dark two towels after wrapping one around his own waist.

Just before he left he tugged on one of Dark's wings and the thief colored. He'd totally forgotten to hide his odd appendages and Argentine was staring at him. Dark made himself decent and folded them as close to his body as possible, "Uh, I'll explain those later" then handed Argentine the other towel and glanced at his wounds. His nose was obviously broken but no longer bleeding. Which was good, but that back leg…ugh. The older Niwa brother took Argentine's arm across his shoulders and helped him stand. The boy was shaking. "Hey, you're all right now. See? All human." As he opened the door and held it with one shoulder, Argentine looked up with a hopeless expression.

"This is going to happen every full moon, isn't it."

His teal blue eyes begged Dark to lie, but he simply said, "It gets…better" and eased him down the hallway and onto a kitchen stool. The thief then snuck down to his parent's room and knocked on the door. "Um, Mom?" Emiko answered the door looking flustered. "What is it? You know these last few transformations are hard on your father, Dark." He scratched the back of his neck.

"I know, but I kinda…" How exactly was he going to word this? "… invited a werewolf kid to stay with us tonight...?"

She stared at him and he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "He's in the kitchen, and he's wounded too, so I was hoping you could –" She shoved past him with an exasperated, "Dark…!" and paused as Argentine came into view. Dark had forgotten how bad he looked; dried blood caked his lips and chin, and fresh crimson leaked from his ankle. "Oh! Young man…" Argentine startled at her loud voice and his eyes opened wide as she ran one hand over the break in his nose. Emiko turned to her son with fire in her eyes, and he wilted a little. "The first aid kit from the pantry. Now!"

As her oldest went to fetch it, she ran warm water over a towel and began cleaning off Argentine's otherwise handsome face. Dark came back and she opened the kit on the counter and asked Argentine, "Would you let me look at your ankle? We might have to take you to our doctor."

He shook his head fast. "No doctors." But he stretched his ankle out to her and she added, "Well, ours know all about our family's… condition, so –" She cleaned around the wound as she spoke. "Oh, good." She'd noticed an exit wound the single BB had made. "It went right through. You're lucky it didn't cut this tendon, otherwise you might not have made it here." Dark passed her some disinfectant, padding, and gauze and she set to work wrapping the thin ankle.

"Yeah, lucky," he murmured and watched her. For the first time Dark noticed silver scars on his neck, obviously new. Bite marks. Argentine noticed his gaze and covered them with one hand self-consciously. "Who bit you?" Emiko finished with his ankle and began examining his nose again.

"I don't know. A big gray wolf. He's dead now, though, because that gold-striped Hikari wolf killed him."

**~Why am I not surprised,~ **Dark though sarcastically just as Emiko announced, "So, it looks like the other BB just nicked you, but I'm still going to have to pop your nose back in place."

Dark pointed out, "Mom, he's lost a lot of blood already."

She sighed in irritation. "If I don't, it will start healing back crooked. Although…" She frowned and cupped Argentine's chin with one hand. His skin did look ashen, and it was a little colder than the regular one-hundred degree skin temperature werewolves usually had. "Do you know your blood type, um…" Dark mouthed his name to her and she was able to continue, "Argentine?"

The boy shook his head.

"Well, that's alright." She pulled out a small blood testing kit and determined after a few minutes that Argentine was O positive, which was convenient because Dark also was, and she just happened to have a bag of his blood in the refrigerator. Actually she had one for Daisuke and Riku too, just because of the hazards that came with being werewolves. Better safe than sorry, that was her motto. "Ah, good. I'll give you some of Dark's then." They both seemed disturbed by this.

"Since when was there a bag of my blood in the refrigerator!"

And from Argentine, "I don't want to turn into a big…chicken."

Dark flushed and his wings flared out angrily. "I am not a god-damn chicken! I am part of an ancient prophecy –"Emiko glared to silence them both and handed the full IV bag to Dark. "Hold this." She turned to Argentine. "I'm sure a little blood transfusion won't give you wings. Besides, this is just red blood cells." She rubbed the crease of his arm with a cotton swab and added, "I am a little surprised you're not… more surprised about Dark's wings though. Are you feeling okay?"

Argentine snorted and would have laughed if he hadn't been so exhausted. "I don't think I could be surprised by anything tonight." He winced as the needle slid in but otherwise was quiet, and eyed Dark's wings again.

"And… you can fly with them?" The thief smirked.

"Sure can. I would give you a demonstration, but seeing as I'm not fully clothed –" His mother barked, "Speaking of which, go put some pajamas on. While you're at it, go get the guest bedroom ready for Argentine." Dark narrowed his eyes in annoyance but secured the IV bag on the door hinge and stalked off, leaving Argentine and Emiko alone.

"Did you used to be a nurse?"

She nodded.

"I still am actually; I just have very few hours. It comes in handy when things like this happen." She fetched an extra blanket from the closet and Argentine took it gratefully, wrapping it just under his arms. "Did you want anything to eat, or drink? We've got plenty of everything." He declined. He hadn't been able to hold anything down the last two days before the transformation, aside from juice.

"I'll just get you some broth anyway, alright?" He smiled a little – typical mom behavior, although he wasn't familiar with it.

"Okay."

As she busied herself, she asked casually, "So, did you want to call your parents and let them know you're here?"

"Actually, it's just my dad, and… I'll just call him tomorrow." He wasn't sure if his dad would even want him back inside their house, after…

Emiko ventured, "Argentine, I need to know…some of what happened to let you stay here in good conscience." She checked his color again and, finding it much improved, removed the IV from his arm, leaving a flesh-colored band aid in its place.

"My dad, my girlfriend and I were out hunting when… When I started to transform. Qualia had been bitten a few weeks earlier than me but she… She didn't…"

He searched for the rights words and Emiko filled in for him gently, "Make it all the way to wolf form did she." Usually, if a girl was bitten she didn't make it through the transformation – it was just too much strain on her body. Natural born female werewolves on the other hand were just…hardier.

He shook his head.

"My dad… he was scared; I was scared. I'm sure it was just an accident, but…he ended up shooting at her and me. I don't know what happened to her, I just ran…" He looked utterly miserable and without another word she put her arms around him.

"Oh, my dear, I'm so sorry…"

He didn't really know how to react to her but did let himself relax in her grip, closing his eyes for a half-second. She released him after a moment and went back to the broth. "Here, this is ready now." Argentine thought he wouldn't want any but after the first sip gulped the entire bowl down greedily, entirely forgetting the laws of table manners. As Dark reentered the room he caught Argentine licking his bowl clean and announced himself with, "Okay, ew. If you were that hungry you shoulda said so." He laid out some pajamas onto Argentine's lap and added, "The rooms ready now, by the way. I'm guessing you're not going to school tomorrow, right?" The dirty blonde put the bowl down.

"No, I'm actually home-schooled."The teen turned to Emiko, "Thank you for everything, by the way."

Dark snorted, "Hmph. Well, I'm going to bed, then. I'll seeya in the morning if you get up early enough, blondie." Dark then picked up the teen under his shoulders and began escorting him to the guest bedroom, pausing as Argentine murmured, "Whatever you say, big bird."

"You make sure to get better so I can pummel you for that later."

The new werewolf stretched, "M-hmm." and leaned into the alpha for support. As an afterthought the dirty blonde added, "Oh, and… Thanks." The thief raised his eyebrow but when he realized it was said sincerely, nodded.

"I can make it from here," Argentine pointed out, and just as he was hobbling his way to the bed Dark murmured, "Yer welcome, lil' cripple." But by the time Argentine turned to retort the oldest Niwa brother was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

Finally, Krad peeled the gloves off his hands and threw them away in the trash bin under his desk. Whenever he worked with wolfsbane he was always very careful. It contained large amounts pseudaconitine; a deadly poison that he was never comfortable working with. Unfortunately it was the only plant to date that could suppress or maybe even stop their 'condition'.

The Hikari family had taken on Chinese methods of processing the plant to reduce toxicity, and this batch proved promising. The process, though, was tedious and time consuming, and if you took one step out of order it ruined the entire process.

Krad leaned back in his chair and adjusted the sleeves of his blue sweatshirt, then felt his spine crack back into alignment. He'd set up this batch with the full knowledge that Dark would come very soon to clear him out – in other words, it was a trap. He didn't want to harm the thief though, so he'd set the dosage for a person half the thief's weight. He really should be testing it on himself, but considering he was a 'mindless', the results might be different.

He found that when his mind began to wander, thoughts of Souen began flitting across it. Silly things like what she was doing now, or where she was, or what she had thought of the blonde-striped wolf that had flawlessly defeated her in battle the first time they'd met. Obviously, she had saved them from a surprise attack from the jaguars, but that alone wouldn't make him trust her.

Not yet.

The wolf in his mind whimpered, yanking his focus back, ~**_Why do you want to get rid of me?_**~ and Krad looked down.

~**_Not you, wolf. In fact, I rather like you. But...I can't take the transforming anymore, the constant fights with the jaguars, and the Niwa.~ _**He touched his chest, where the scars that Boris had given him marred his baby-white skin. ~**_It is tearing this body apart. I can barely keep a job, and as for ever finding…~ _**

He finished the thought in one tiny, private corner of his mind, ~… **_ever 'continuing the Hikari line', as father so bluntly put it, no woman, she-wolf or not, would ever be wooed into marrying such a thing as me.~_**

His wolf protested but became silent as a rush of angry pity washed over him. The scent from the wolfbane burned his nose and blurred the connection between his wolf and himself. He sneezed and rubbed his nose.

On another note, he wanted to see his mother one more time before she left for Japan. He missed her. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and went back upstairs. Once he'd bundled up for the cold weather, Krad took the long walk out to Midnight's stall, his stomach beginning to knot slightly. He'd called the vet earlier this morning because as far as he could tell, the mare hadn't gone back into that yet, and it had been nearly three weeks. This meant that the chances of her being with foal were likely. He'd told both his siblings and Risa seemed very excited at the possibility, where Satoshi seemed as nervous as he was, if amused. Kei had finally come home but Krad had conveniently forgotten to mention it, and had hushed up his siblings with the promise of extra ham every other evening.

Krad leaned against the wood fence and watched the black mare graze, halter and rope in hand. The horse had been unusually calm these last few weeks. "Midnight?" Her head flicked up and her ears back, thought not flat like usual.

"I don't want any trouble. I'll just take you to the vet and then bring you right back here."

He opened the gate and produced three sugar cubes from his pocket. A peace offering. "Here." She eyed them, then him, then allowed him to slip the halter around her face as she munched them down. Her snout was soft, warm and dusted with snowflakes. He led her through the gate and down the dirt path, the ground frozen and crackling under her heavy hooves.

"So," he murmured, and one black eye rolled to look at him. "Are you…?" The horse suddenly whinnied, a sound not unlike peals of laughter. Once she had settled again he led her to the driveway where a grizzled old man with black hair took the lead rope from Krad.

"Ah! What a beautiful animal!" he exclaimed, and the mare seemed to melt under the praise, nuzzling into his chest as he led her close to his truck. "What's her name?"

"Midnight," Krad answered and peeked into the back of his truck. A monitor about the size of a computer lay there along with a long cord and paddle. "Neat ain't it?" the vet spoke in broken Japanese. "Certainly more comfortable for the animal than stickin' yer arm in there to find out the situation." Krad colored a bit.

"I'm…sure." His hands were crossed behind his back, and as the white monitor passed over the horse's tar black hide, he made a silent chant of **_~Please, no. Please, no. Please be nega-~_**

A click from the vet's teeth.

"Ah, there it is. Come see, Mr.–"

~**_C'mon, one break for the blonde werewolf here!~_**

"–new horse father."

~**_Damn! Damn, shit, bugger, bloody hell, this is all that thief's fault! When I get a hold of him I am going to...~_** He uncrossed his arms in order to make a few strangling motions, then his stomach threatened to flip as he looked and saw a wee black dot the size of a small rubber ball in an otherwise gray background. "That's the… the foal?" The vet caught his expression and said, "Goodness! Sit down, you look like you're going to faint." Krad sat down on the bumper and took in a shaky breath. The vet patted Midnight's belly fondly.

"She has foaled a bit early, but the winter this year is supposed to be short, so he'll be born in the right time. Did you want me to give you a few…recommendations for food and other–"

"Yes, please," Krad managed around a big lump in his throat. He did not know anything about this at all. "I'm sorry – I suppose you're used to many happy owners, but this is a bit unplanned." The vet began jotting down many scrawled notes and Krad sat and stared at his horse. _That's _why she was being so nice.

"That's fine, keep in mind that I'll be here when you need me. " Krad snorted, "For an exorbitant price per hour." The vet chuckled, "There's that. Are you feeling a bit better now?" The blonde nodded and adjusted his white-striped hat even though he felt relatively the same. The vet handed him the notes and within fifteen minutes had left. Krad was alone with his mare once more.

As he walked her back to her stable in silence she nudged him a few times in the shoulder, obviously uncomfortable with the silence. He sighed, "What am I going to do with you?" She snorted softly. More importantly, what was he going to do? At least the stall he'd built had rounded corners, so she could probably give birth in there. He had zero experience training – they'd bought Midnight well after she'd been broken in. Either way he'd have to call that damnable thief about this, and soon. He fingered his cell phone, but in the end, let his fingers go back to the halter and removed it from his horse's face. "Ah, Midnight…"

He zipped up his jacket a bit farther and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, a single strand of white-blond hair fluttering around in the frozen air.

* * *

Dark rubbed his eyes as he made his way to his first class. He'd asked Argentine if he wanted to come but the cripple really hadn't recovered yet, so he politely declined. Also, Emiko was sincerely enjoying nursing him back to health, so he hadn't pressed the issue.

"Hey Dark!" a pair of girls managed to pipe up and he grinned sleepily.

"Mornin', ladies." He reached up to stretch his arms over his head, showing off his biceps. They flushed and cleared off, and as he rounded a corner he ran into none other than Risa, again.

"Oh."

"Oh," she echoed, looking just about as pleased to see him as he was to see her. Talk about awkward. He was wearing his most girl-attracting outfit today too; black leather and purple-striped tee. She was wearing a short pink dress with long gray leggings and black boots. She motioned for him to follow and he offered up a feeble "Um, my class–" which she silenced with a sarcastic, "Like that's deterred you before."

**_~Oh, man. Why didja have to go and kiss her, you idiot? Nothing is ever gonna work out with whatever this is… Now you're in big, big trouble.~ _**

He ran a hand through his hair. "So…"

"So," she said softly, but directly, "did that kiss…did that mean anything to you?" Her hands were folded together just at her waist and he felt worse than ever. "Because it did to me, and…" As she trailed off Dark murmured, "Well, it did to me, too, but…" He gave a bitter, little laugh.

"It's not as if we can ever do anything about it."

Her round doe eyes looked up at him. "You mean with Krad and my father?"

"The whole…Hikari/Niwa thing in general," he pointed out dejectedly. "My family wanted Riku and me to get together, but she's with Dai now, and a hell of a lot happier because of it. If we even…"

He could just imagine Emiko's reaction, then Kosuke's. A big tangled web of a mess, that's what this would turn into. Dark was making a bit of a guess about Daisuke, but the way his brother and half-sister looked at each other now… he was almost certain of it.

"It's never going to work."

He hated the hurt look in her eyes, but what else could he say? She knew it, too.

"So you're not even going to try?"

Okay, that hurt.

"Well, if you **_want_** me to get ripped to shreds by your family, then…"

"I don't, but they haven't found out so far." Well, Satoshi had, but he probably wouldn't tell Krad a thing as long as they didn't do anything…risky. He'd pointed that fact out levelly.

"Just because they haven't doesn't mean they won't, and if we keep it a secret, it'll be ten times worse."

She started to shake and he wanted to put his arms around her, but resisted. She was beautiful even when she was angry; her tiny shoulders shaking and her eyes flashing.

"If you really wanted me, you would fight for me! How am I supposed to help if–"

"Help?" he interrupted her, his own alpha personality irked by the implication that he needed her help. "You think I wanted this? To feel this way for a Hikari werewolf, of all women? How about this: you **_help _**by just falling out of love with me, okay?"

The bell clanged around them, but they both ignored it. Dark was vaguely aware that he was being quite a bastard, but he couldn't help it. He was scared and confused and he just wanted to get away from this...this almost-relationship.

"I can't." She covered her face so he couldn't see the tears that were beginning to fall. "I can't, even when you say things like that. If I could, I would…" He'd realized by now that she was crying and hung back. "Wait, you…"

"I didn't want to fall in love with you, either," she snapped, and moved her hands so he could see her tear-streaked face. "It just happened, and now it's way too late to just...stop."

~**_She…~ _**

To be honest, he was amazed. He'd thought that she was just another girl pressing her desires on him without any regard for his feelings. As it turns out, she…felt the same kind of love he did. Crazy, tentative, unstable, but at the same time…unable to deny. Suddenly, he felt very depressed for both of them and this sad, stupid little situation. Unless something radical changed, they would never be together. He put a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't push him away, held her up against his chest. He forced the knot in his throat away long enough to manage, "I…can't, either." Finally he figured all this out; finally he knew why he could never get her out of his head. And the irony of course, was it did them no good. He felt her sigh, felt the weariness in her whole body.

"What are we going to do…?" she muttered and his lips brushed against her hair as he answered, "I really have no idea." She put her arms around his shoulders. They held each other for a long time.

Later in the day Dark shivered as he flew across the tundra of Russia and adjusted the scarf around his neck. He was flying low, but the wind chill was still pretty bad around this altitude. He was still thinking earlier about what had happened with Risa. It gave him an odd tingly sort of feeling throughout his whole body. He wanted to see her again. He wanted something, anything to work out, even if it meant going behind the Hikari alpha's back.

His wings glittered as they collected frost, and it gave his eyelashes and wine locks a tint of silver. He was a bit late as far as stealing goes; he usually cleared out all the Hikari supplies once a month, but last month had been a bit late.

He landed around the back of Krad's house and glanced up at the camera. It appeared to register him and the alarm managed a single tiny squeak before it was silenced by a well-thrown rock to its lens. Dark skirted around the periphery of the sputtering camera's view and jiggled the door, testing the lock that Krad had recently installed. It was nice and tight; a challenge. In fact, he could hear a few on the other side too, evenly spaced between the hinges.

He took out the lock-picking kit Emiko had brought him for his birthday and was through in about fifteen seconds, some wriggling required. He left all the bulky clothing just inside the door and set about looking around the basement for the familiar desk. It was absolutely pitch black but he managed to cross the room with a little help from his alpha wolf's eyes. The room had come into focus, a mix of grays and darker grays. Mostly it was like a regular basement, filled with boxes and shelves that didn't seem to house anything particularly important. On the right-hand side of the area, however, the shelves became neat and orderly, filled to the brim with so many different dried herbs and plants that he knew it would be a waste of time to attempt moving them all, or even half.

Besides, he was only looking for one thing.

It hit his nose like a slap and he followed it to the desk, of all places, right in the top hand drawer. His black-gloved hand paused in the air on its way to the handle. This was way too easy. He glanced around, checked for trip-wires, running electricity, anything. Nothing. He shrugged and pulled the drawer open with a thick swipe. It was empty. "Eh?"

Without thinking he moved his head down to see into the black corners of the drawer and with a click, something sprayed onto his face and neck.

"ACCPPPTHT! SHIT!"

Upstairs Krad, who was up late getting some hot chocolate, heard a strangled noise from the downstairs basement and chuckled a little. "Ah, Dark."

Back in the basement, Dark wiped the liquid off his face as fast as he could, but his skin was beginning to tingle. **_~Oh no! What the hell is this?~_**

Wait, this smell… Wolfsbane. He'd been sprayed with Krad's latest concoction. It must have been motion activated on the left corner of the drawer judging by the way it dripped off his face. He stumbled back over to the door, no longer trying to hide his presence and slipped on his bulky clothing, his wings struggling to bring him back up into the sky. Eventually he managed to break free from gravity but he had little time to enjoy it; it had begun to snow. Each snowflake was colder and hit harder than rain against his skin and wings. By the time he returned home his wings were covered in snow and, as he curled up in front of the fire and spread them, he shivered. The skin on his face and neck felt numb, and he prayed that that damn alpha hadn't given him a dose in the hopes of curing him forever.

If he was separated from his alpha… He chuckled a bit. Before he'd transformed he couldn't imagine sharing his mind with a wild animal.

Now, he was terrified by the thought of losing him. **_~Wolf? You there…?~_** His alpha didn't respond except for a little, irritated growl. Dark sighed in relief.

He was still there. For now. Water dripped off of his ebony wings and he wondered vaguely what Risa would think if she saw them like they were now, reflecting the redness of the flames. She'd probably hate them. His father's voice cut through his thoughts and startled him with, "How did it go, Dark?" One look at his face told his father everything. He handed the thief a warm mug of hazelnut tea and he took it gratefully, taking a large gulp.

"I think…he sprayed me with his most recent concoction." Kosuke's eyes widened and he calmed him with, "It's fine. I can still hear my wolf. I don't think it worked." His black-haired father frowned. "We won't know for sure until this coming full moon. Do you feel alright otherwise?" Dark nodded and shifted his right wing a bit closer to the fire. His father sat down next to him, wrapping his dark robe tighter over his pajamas.

"Hey, Dad?" Kosuke stretched his legs a bit. "Hm?"

"Do you like _Romeo and Juliet_?"

Kosuke blinked. "No. I'd like to think that even in an impossible situation like that, love could still find a way." After a moment he added, "That and the movie …well, sucked." They laughed together in total agreement and after a moment Kosuke reminded him gently, "Oh, by the way, we should set a date for your ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Dark's tired brain was a little slow on the uptake. Kosuke looked into the fire. "I do hope you will still come to me for advice, little Clan Alpha. You have a bit of a temper." Dark's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wait – you… Does that mean you want me to…" Taking on the job of a Clan Alpha was a huge responsibility. It meant that Daisuke and Riku's safety were his concern, as well as all other border disputes.

Kosuke smiled all the way up to his black eyes. "If you think you're ready. I, personally, am about ready to retire." Dark leaned into his father's shoulder and Kosuke put an arm around his son's shoulders, just under the wing joints. "I don't know, but if I can ease up some of the weight on you, I'll do it." Kosuke smiled again.

"You always were that way, ever since you were little." The phantom thief's wings shuffled a little in interest. "So what did you first think when you saw these?"

He indicated his wings by lifting them to touch Kosuke's arm. "When you were first born?" Kosuke grinned and scratched the back of his head with his other arm.

"It 'scared the crap outta me', as you would say, seeing these things against your back. We always had to watch and make sure you didn't snap them, they were so delicate. I've been slapped in the face by these more times than I can count." Dark colored a little. "Sorry about that." Kosuke shook his head to dismiss it.

"But after a little while …" He moved his arm so his hand ran across the long foreign limb and the black feathers ruffled. "We both got used to them, and I'm glad they're finally functional. They're rather pleasing to look at, too." Dark smirked and cupped one of his wings around Kosuke in a loose wing-hug. "Thanks. You think the girls will like them?" Kosuke almost rolled his eyes.

"Is that all that motivates you?"

Dark's purple eyes glittered.

"You don't remember being seventeen, do you?" Kosuke thought for a moment and admitted, "Alright, you got me there." He ruffled his son's hair, stood up slowly, and Dark joined him down the hall to his father's room. He gave him a salute with the red mug, "Night, Dad." and headed off for his own bedroom. "Night, son."

The older man murmured and watched as his black-winged son disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

* * *

Sorry that ths was so late everyone- but please review!Nothing irks me like a person favoriting my story but not leaving a review- so do it!


	13. Chapter 13

Kei had returned home. Krad wasn't sure whether to pretend excitement or pretend relief, so he did what he usually did when having trouble processing his emotions – he caught Midnight out in her pasture and rode out bareback so far he could only see the house as a tiny black smudge on the horizon.

Catching his breath, he loosened the reins; still greasy with the rub-down of oil leather he'd given them, and thought with a bit of surprise: **_Ah. It's so much easier to get out this far on all fours_**_. _He really didn't want to deal with his father right now. Now that everything made sense. The odd stares and way he seemed to lose track of conversations halfway through talking with Krad. The way he'd constantly nagged at him to cut his hair even though it had been that long since he was almost eleven. **_It's because I look so much like my real mother that it unsettles him to be around me. _**Well, that certainly wasn't Krad's fault.

Had he a choice in the matter, he would have chosen to look just like Kei. In that way he never would have been suspicious, and never would have had to deal with all of…

On the other hand, he wouldn't have met his mother, Ruka.

Midnight's big black barrel-shaped body breathed evenly underneath him as he watched a smaller herd of caribou pass far off on his left-hand side, oblivious to them because his scent was being carried in the opposite direction. Their silver-white coats shone in the dull sunlight and they all had a thick gray layer of velvet on their antlers. He closed his eyes and inhaled their scent. It was musky and mammalian, and brought a little hungry growl into the back of his throat. Midnight shifted underneath him nervously and he opened his eyes, patting her on her flank. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." She snorted and pawed at the ground as he took out his cell phone and dialed his mother's number. After three rings she answered, sounding slightly put-out and making Krad arch a single eyebrow.

"What do _you_ want?"

"This is Krad," he said with a slight upward lilt at the end, wondering what he had done.

"Oh. Oh! I'm sorry, it's just that I'm trying to get all of my information updated and my banking company keeps getting it wrong and…" she paused. "Are you alright honey? Did something happen?"

He snorted a little. It was nothing he couldn't handle.

"No, I just wanted to apologize for not being able to see you off at the airport. I'm not usually this busy." She was leaving the same day he was going to be investigating a call about some psycho freaking out and shooting at his son and the boy's girlfriend. The body of the girl they'd recovered had been a little 'abnormal'.

"It's fine. Once everything settles down I'm sure that we will get together soon."

He nodded and made himself believe it. "Yes, I will make sure of it."

The wind shifted, and the caribou that had been grazing peacefully suddenly bellowed in alarm at his scent, taking off at breakneck speed. He heard a weary sigh and she murmured, "My neighbors at the front door again. Here to ask when I'm going to be leaving, no doubt."

Krad let a 'tch!' escape his lips.

"Just punch them. Then pretend you have a nervous twitch and shut the door."

She laughed, and he felt an empty pang in his chest as he realized he didn't recognize the sound.

"I'm a woman; I couldn't possibly. I'll call you soon, then. I love you, my dear." She said it casually, but with so much sincerity he stumbled over the appropriate answer of, "I-… I love you, too."

"Bye."

He heard a click and stared down at the phone as it droned on, indicating a split connection. It felt like his throat was closing and he blinked a few times to get rid of the sudden abundance of liquid in his eyes. That was the saddest part really. He _did _love her, and he didn't even know her.

Because of the curse.

Because of his father who made him live a lie – who had never bothered to tell him the truth even though it stared at him in the face _every day_.

He choked down a much louder, angrier growl that wanted to come up and turned Midnight back towards the house with his thighs, taking up the reins. Her beautiful black coat was dotted with powdered snow up to her fetlocks.

* * *

Argentine stretched and walked around the Niwa household with a pronounced limp, determined to get out of bed and tour the place that he'd been kept in almost a week. He'd tried repeatedly to get a hold of his father but for whatever reason he hadn't answered his cell or the home phone, and though Dark had driven him over yesterday it appeared that the house was empty. He asked the neighbors and they said that only a day before he'd been hauled off to the slammer for questioning and they hadn't seen him since. So for the moment he was stuck here. Not that he wasn't enjoying himself. In fact, having Emiko around always fussing over him was sort of…nice. But he wasn't family, and when the next full moon swung around he was sure he would end up hurting one of them.

Which is why he needed to leave. Emiko was in the living room now with her husband Kosuke, discussing Dark's new rank in the pack while he was at school, among other things. Argentine wondered if she would make him start going to school, too, although he doubted it. She'd taken him aside a few hours each day and gone through all the basics of math and reading, so he assumed it was her way of home-schooling him.

As he passed the kitchen the phone rang and, seeing as the two Niwa's were busy, he answered it.

"_Hello, is Argentine there?_"

"Dad?" Argentine asked incredulously, and tightened the grip on his phone.

"_Argentine! I'm glad you're alright. Listen, I've only got five minutes so we've got to be quick about this. I'm in jail right now, in case you haven't figured that out already, and I need you to come in and help me by proving to these people that you're alive…_" he trailed off, then admitted: "_Damn. I should never have told them the truth in the first place. I don't-... How am I supposed to prove to them that you're- ...That you were…_"

"That I'm alive? What happened to Qualia?"

Fear tightened in his stomach, and suddenly the air in the kitchen was too thin. "_Qualia?_" Why did it sound like he'd never heard of her before? "_Oh, her. She's dead. But-_"

Argentine made a pathetic choking sound – he couldn't help it – and no longer heard his father's voice. The walls seemed to close in around him, and the light that had been filtering in the window went from warm to mockingly cheerful, laughter in the face of death.

"What...? What…" He leaned against the cool counter for support as all the energy seeped out of him within seconds. "I…"

Dead? That wasn't possible; she must have gotten away from them somehow… right?

_Right?_

"Son, are you listening?"

His hand was shaking as he replied in monotone, "No, Dad. Send someone here to prove that I'm alive."

_Because I don't want to hear your voice for one more second. _

He knew that his father had never liked her, but to say it so…calmly; so casually. As if they were speaking of the weather, or what they had for lunch. She was…the only person who had really given him warmth, found that joking side of him and brought it out. How could a person so full of life be dead? He wasn't angry, exactly. Just completely hollowed out, even as his thumb cut the signal and he placed the phone on the counter lightly. His body slumped down into the kitchen chair, the same one where Emiko had bandaged his foot and had given him some well-needed blood.

He remembered teasing Qualia about the dark streak of brown in her otherwise light-blonde hair, calling her skunk over it, and twirling the strand in his fingers before using it to pull her in for a kiss. He remembered flopping down in front of their fire and debating whether Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or X-Men was the best movie series.

He remembered putting his hands around her child-like face, then her soft, small hands and the way the firelight played in her eyes.

"…Qualia…" Argentine curled up with his arms around himself.

He remembered the night when she'd been bitten and came running in, crying with blood down her neck and his stomach had flipped, but somehow he'd managed to get her to the sink to wash the wound out. She came to him because she didn't trust her parents to believe that a gray wolf had come out of nowhere and pinned her to the ground, but left her only with a single bite. He'd wrapped it as best he could and held her until she'd stopped crying and made a feeble joke, telling her she could tell her parents it was a hickey from him. She had laughed weakly and buried her face in his chest, and spent the night at his house, researching and making timid jokes about werewolves until they fell asleep.

And when the full moon came close he told her to bite him too, so he could go through it with her. But she'd refused.

And like an idiot he got himself bitten by the same werewolf that bit her two days prior before the full moon…

He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard steps across the kitchen floor. Suddenly Emiko was in his field of vision, seemingly called by the aura of distress he was giving off.

"Argentine? What's wrong?"

For a moment he couldn't find his voice. When he did it seemed to be about the age of a six-year-old. "Qualia's dead."

"Oh, Argentine…" Without another word or any queue from the boy whatsoever she wrapped her arms around him. Well actually, what she did was pick him up under his arms and ease them both down to the kitchen floor, but he was a little preoccupied because he'd started crying in front of everyone, not loudly, but quietly – which was almost worse.

Within seconds his nose had become clogged and his face hot with fresh tears. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried and couldn't believe he was doing so now, in the arms of a stranger. At some point Kosuke joined them as well; Argentine could feel his thick arm and hand across his shoulders, the fingers squeezing into the taunt tendons. Eventually the tears stopped. He wasn't sure when but was grateful for it all the same and, despite their protests, he managed to get to the bedroom they'd given to him alone.

He laid down and put his hands behind his mop of dirty-blonde hair. His nose stung with pain from when Emiko had cracked it back into alignment a few days ago and his ankle throbbed in time with it. He let the memories of Qualia wash over him. He'd been so sure he was going to see her again. It was the reason he'd tried so hard and nearly overdone himself to escape in the first place.

_I did tell her I loved her, didn't I?_

He did, but it had been in that playful childish way of using a word when you didn't really know what it meant. He'd known her since they were in grade school and he couldn't really remember a time when she wasn't in his life…

_Qualia… _

This felt almost the same as getting shot; the deafening crack as it occurred followed by the stunned silence as your brain tried to catch up with your body.

He heard the ticking of the clock on his nightstand and each note was soft and dry in his suddenly dark room.

_Tik_

_Tik_

_Tik_

* * *

When Dark came home that night he knew something had happened with Argentine; the kid had holed himself up in his room and even refused to eat at dinner. Daisuke had noticed too, of course, being the overly sensitive one. But after grilling Emiko, she gave Dark the advice to 'give him some distance'. He had obliged to this all through the night and up until around 3 am, when for whatever reason Argentine thought it would be a good idea to start screaming bloody murder. Luckily Dark was fast to wake up – he managed to get a hand over the boy's mouth before he woke up the rest of the house and whispered feverishly, "What the hell are you doing? Nearly gave me a heart attack, cripple…" he trailed off as he saw real fear in the boy's deep blue eyes. "S-sorry," he apologized, dropping his hand. Dark made himself at home on Argentine's comforter with a noise between a sigh and a grunt. Really, why was it his job to be the babysitter?

**_Although…I was the one who brought him here in the first place. Guess this is payback._**

"Well? What was all the yelling about?"

Argentine crossed his arms. "None of your business. Just go back to bed, bird-kid."

Dark ignored the comment.

"It's my business because you woke me up, so tell me."

There was silence for a moment and Dark's wolf eyes made out the shape of Argentine's profile against the pillows. "I was having a nightmare."

More silence.

"And...?"

"'And' what?"

Dark felt the urge to punch something. "What was it about?"

Argentine kicked Dark's thigh.

"That's not-"

Dark put his legs over Argentine's, effectively pinning him.

"Anyone whom I bring home has got to play by my rules, one of them being: Tell Uncle Dark what's wrong, so he can solve it and go back to bed."

Argentine gave a little annoyed growl and the thief snorted, waiting as goosebumps rose on his arms; he was only wearing a tank-top and shorts. The false bravado didn't scare his alpha in the least, and although the wolf was a bit uncomfortable being this close to a wolf it was unfamiliar with, Dark repressed the urge to high-tail it out of the room. He rubbed his arms. When he slept he seemed to turn into a living heater, but he'd forgotten to grab up the black robe in his closet before sprinting into Argentine's room.

"Just so you know, I'm never going to refer to you as 'Uncle Dark'. _Ever_."

Dark waited for him to answer and heard a stressed little sigh.

"It was about when I got bit."

Dark pulled his legs up a bit and crossed his arms over them. "Oh. Well, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

He heard the off-blonde swallow. "My problems aren't your business, and I have no right to impose them on you."

"Maybe I want to hear about it. Jeez, you know you apologize for everything? You don't need to for _existing_, Argentine. And you don't need to for not-so-nice parts of your past, either." Dark tapped out a pattern on the covers patiently and after a while heard an exasperated huff.

"Fine." Argentine sat up a little, and moved Dark's legs off to one side. "I was out gathering wood for our fireplace like usual; we live right near the wildlife preserve so there's no shortage of trees. It was about nine but already completely dar-" the thief grinned and Argentine covered, "black, and I'd brought my Irish Wolfhound, Jock, with me, in case of coyotes or wolves. I was on my way back when I realized he was missing, so I started calling him and…um. I started hearing the sounds of a dogfight so I…went over to see what was going on."

Although he tried to stop it memories of that night bubbled back into his mind in bursts: his kerosene lamp casting funhouse-like shadows up the frozen tree trunks, the powdered snow caked into his boots and laces, the way he'd stumbled over Jock's body and around the base of a small fir. The blood from the dog's throat was black against the gray snow.

"He was dead, but it was odd to me that the wolf that did it would just leave him. They usually only attack if they're starving. I started looking around and…" Argentine gave a small chuckle that died halfway through. "I remember the eyes – like chips of glass, and as my light hit him I could see the blood in his fur and fangs. He stared at me for a half-second and I could have _sworn _that son-of-a-bitch smiled before he came at me." His hands went up to his neck and cupped over the silver scars that lay nestled just above his collarbone. He decided not to share the fact he remembered the incredibly short-lived fight between them. He'd swung his lamp and managed to get a few shards into the animal's hide before being pinned in the snow by spit-soaked jaws.

"When I woke up it was snowing and I could feel the bite; it burned, and it was bleeding so I went home. I didn't realize it was so bad until I got to a mirror."

Dark couldn't help but ask, "It burned?" and Argentine replied quietly.

"Yeah. I thought it'd been infected because it felt like someone had torched my neck. I expected it to be black and charred when I got back…"

Dark crossed his arms. "It wasn't a nightmare at all then. It was a memory."

Argentine moved the curtain back from the window for a second and then let it swing back into place. "Sometimes real life, I think, is more terrifying than anything my imagination could make up."

Dark sat up suddenly and announced, "You stay here. I know just what can fix this," and was gone before Argentine could protest. He realized to his own surprise that he felt much better after talking. Maybe telling one person was taking a weight off his chest after all. Dark came back with a Transformers mug and put it in Argentine's smallish hands.

"Here. If this doesn't help you sleep, I don't know what will."

Blue eyes narrowed. "You did something to it, didn't you?"

Dark genuinely looked offended, a sign of guilt. "Argentine! How could you even think that!" Argentine's eyes narrowed further. Dark snatched the mug out of his hands and took a large, audible gulp.

"See? It's fine."

Argentine shook his head, but decided that it was probably for his best interest anyway. He just wanted to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep and forget about this. "Well, I think that was a nice talk. We should do it again sometime." Dark ruffled dark-blonde hair and the boy growled, "I don't recall you saying much of anything."

Dark paused on his way out of Argentine's room and said, "That's kind of the point, isn't it? Sometimes it's better to just shut up, listen, and do what you can to make someone feel better." He gave the blonde a smirk and a lazy salute, "You're welcome," before leaving.

"Thank you…?" Argentine said with confusion, and took a drink of the hot chocolate instead of trying to figure out what had just transpired. Halfway down the hall Dark gave a little chuckle before slipping back into bed. Good thing Argentine's sniffer was broken or he might have smelled the hint of rum in the hot chocolate.

* * *

Krad hung his coat up near the front door and took off his gloves, placing them in the end-table near the door. Then he sat on the first step and untied his boots before heading into the kitchen. He'd been gone almost all morning so he was pretty hungry and the stash of black forest ham he'd hidden in the fridge wasn't going to eat itself. He got out the bread, ham, mayonnaise, pickles, onion, mustard and ketchup, lettuce and a slice of tomato for good measure.

By the time he was finished, the burger could barely stand by itself. Just as he'd fixed a glass of milk and sat down his father rounded a corner and sat across from him looking tired as usual.

"Father," Krad acknowledged before taking a bite out of the monstrosity he'd created and staining his plate with a mix of ketchup, mustard and various burger liquids. **_You know it's good when you bite into it and stuff comes spilling out the other end_**_. _He would have given a happy little growl if Kei hadn't been present. "I know during my absence Risa went into heat. Is she quite herself again?"

Krad's eye twitched for a moment. He was seriously considering staying in a hotel this time next year so he wouldn't even have to address that issue. "She is. I find it odd that your business trip coincided with the dates most likely for that to occur." Kei shrugged his shoulders.

"An odd coincidence, indeed. But nothing more than that, I can assure you."

Krad stared at him levelly over his burger.

"If something similar to that were to happen again the likelihood that I would be able to separate the two betas during that time is extremely low. And I'm sure you don't want a litter from her until she finishes college."

Kei gave a strange little grin, "Of course."

Krad said in monotone, placing his burger on the plate, "Do not play with me, Father. Risa is not ready for that yet, nor Satoshi."**_And I do not intend on becoming a babysitter anytime soon._**

Kei said softly, "You think so? My patience for her needs over the needs of the Hikari pack is growing thin."

Krad snorted and a corner of his mouth lifted distastefully. "Perhaps you are the one at fault for straying from the needs of the Hikari pack, not her."

As soon as the words slipped from his mouth he knew he'd made a mistake.

"Excuse me?"

Krad placed the burger in the trash and almost made it out of the kitchen before Kei grabbed him by the bicep and pulled him back in, hard. The slight snarl on his lips deepened.

"Let go of me." The blonde emphasized this by letting a small growl vibrate deep in his throat.

"I will when I _feel_ like it. Or when you tell me exactly what you were insinuating."

If there was one thing Krad's wolf hated above everything else it was being threatened within its own pack, especially from Kei. It was not the first time he'd put Krad in his place, a rung under himself, unnecessarily. And to tell the truth he was getting quite tired of it. He wasn't even sure when Kei planned on giving up the title of Clan Alpha to him, even though it was obvious that Satoshi and Risa considered Krad to be in charge now. Kei's grip tightened on his arm and he could feel the muscle straining in protest.

"I don't know. Why don't you look me in the eye and tell me what you think I was insinuating."

Kei met Krad's golden eyes for less than a second, then darted away and he struggled for a moment before saying, "You think there was a time where I strayed from the Clan's needs. I can assure you their wasn't."

"Really." Krad had promised he wouldn't bring this up, but it was too late now to turn back. "I wonder about that." He reached up and yanked the tie out of his hair and let it fall past his shoulders, watching as Kei flinched slightly. "I wonder why you hate that I leave my hair long. I wonder why you always stumble over your words, why I catch you staring whenever I am not looking directly at you." He took a step forward and cupped his father's chin. "And why in all the years I've known you, you never look me directly in the face for long."

Just as Kei let go of his arm Krad leaned in and hissed just by his ear, "I wonder why it is I resemble neither Rio Hikari nor you, in the slightest."

Kei jerked his chin out of Krad's grip, his brown eyes burning with anger, the yellow beginning to show.

"How dare you? How dare you place your ignorant assumptions-"

"They are not assumptions," the teen murmured with a deadly quietness. "I've _met_ her, you fool. Ruka Tsusaki. If my assumptions are so ignorant than why did she know about these-" he opened his wings, knocking over the leftover glasses on the counter with a tinkling smash and blocking out the kitchen lights, "-_Father_? Why does she have my face? Tell me!"

He was breathing hard and fast, his eyes completely yellow and his hands clenched; the nails digging in so hard they almost drew blood. Everything in the house went eerily quiet and Krad lowered his wings from their reared position, letting them settle against his back. The feathers brushed against each other quietly and tickled the back of his neck.

"Tell me."

Just then his sharp ears picked up the breathing of a third party and Krad's eyes flicked to the entryway behind Kei. It was Satoshi, unruffled as usual, his loose white shirt emphasizing the paleness of his skin, hair, and eyes. "Excuse me." He pushed his way past a senseless Kei and took Krad's forearm gently in his wrist, then led him up the stairs and into Krad's opulent room.

"You heard everything," Krad said, once they were out of earshot, not even bothering to take the fear or uncertainty from his voice.

"Yes."

Krad received the word like a slap, gritting his teeth under his lips and flinching.

"I... I didn't mean for you to…"

Satoshi sat down on the blue window seat in Krad's bedroom and motioned for him to do the same. "I think…I probably should have told you this a while ago, Krad." Satoshi took off his glasses and folded them, placing them in his shirt pocket. "Please, listen." Krad folded his wings tighter against his back. "I've had my own suspicions about this for some time. But I want you to know that even though…" he looked down at his hand on the fabric, right next to Krad's larger, rougher left hand. "The blood that runs through your veins may be different from mine, your role in my life – as my older brother – will never change." He leaned in until their shoulders were touching and stayed there, warming up his brother's cool skin. "Do you understand?"

Krad relaxed visibly and smirked. "Yes, sir." He scooped up Satoshi under his arms and plopped him down in his lap, ignoring his squawk of protest. "That wasn't an invitation to-"

"Hush," Krad muttered, and began scrunching up the boy's blue hair as he did when he was little.

"I have some homework to do…" Satoshi said quietly as his eyes began to droop.

"I guess we'll have to enjoy this moment while we can, then." Krad sighed, and put the bluenette's head under his chin, waiting until Satoshi finally relaxed against him. Then he closed his eyes.


	14. Haitus notice

TEMPORARY HAITUS

I'm really, really sorry about this and I want to thank everyone who has been with me on this story so far, but for whatever reason I'm finding it really difficult to keep 2 stories running at once. I'm going to concentrate on AU for now but hopefully will be coming back to this story soon. Keep in mind this is only temporary and I will be getting back to it. .


End file.
